Falmouth Magnetic Observatory Magnetograms

Magnetograms are records of variations in the strength and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. Historically these magnetograms were recorded on paper using photographic techniques. In the UK, measurements were made at eight long-running observatories; Abinger, Eskdalemuir, Falmouth, Greenwich, Hartland, Kew, Lerwick, and Stonyhurst. BGS also hold magnetogram records from the Cape Evans observatory that ran continuously at Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic base camp during the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–13. The magnetogram collection, one of the longest running geomagnetic series in the world, provides a continuous record of more than 160 years of UK measurements. These magnetograms start in the 1840s and end in 1986 at which time digital recording of the magnetic field took over and magnetograms can be produced by computer graphic. The plots show variation in the Earth's magnetic field, typically over a 24-hour period. The collection is a valuable, partly untapped data resource for studying geomagnetic storms, space weather and the evolution of the Earth’s magnetic field. The magnetograms provide insight into: • the Earth’s outer core: long-term change (years to centuries) in the dynamo that sustains our magnetic field • space weather: short-term changes (seconds to days) in near-Earth space and on the ground • space climate: long-term change (decades to centuries) in solar activity and consequences for Earth’s environment All the above have an impact on human activities. For example, bad space weather affects technologies that we increasingly rely on, such as electrical power and GPS networks. In response to the threat of loss from degradation due to age and a desire to preserve and exploit old data, BGS undertook a programme of work to digitally photograph, archive and preserve the analogue paper records of magnetic field variation in the United Kingdom. Between 2009 and 2013, high-quality digital images of every available magnetogram were taken. These images are available to search online. Scientists and the general public around the world can now gain easy access to this historical dataset.

磁图是对地球磁场强度和方向变化的记录。在历史上，这些磁图通过摄影技术记录在纸张上。在英国，这些测量是在八个长期运行的观测站进行的，包括阿宾格、埃斯凯德穆尔、法尔茅斯、格林尼治、哈特兰、凯厄、勒维克和斯托尼赫斯特。英国地质调查局（BGS）还保存了来自凯普埃文斯观测站的磁图记录，该观测站在英国南极探险（1910-13年）期间在罗伯特·福尔顿·斯科特南极基地持续运行。这一磁图收藏，是全球持续时间最长的地磁系列之一，提供了超过160年英国测量的连续记录。这些磁图始于19世纪40年代，并于1986年结束，当时磁场的数字记录取代了磁图，磁图可以通过计算机图形生成。图表显示了地球磁场的变动，通常为24小时周期。这一收藏是研究地磁暴、太空天气和地球磁场演化的宝贵、部分未充分挖掘的数据资源。磁图为我们提供了以下方面的洞见：
• 地球外核：维持我们磁场的动力学在数年至数百年时间尺度上的长期变化
• 太空天气：在近地空间和地面上的短期变化（秒至数天）
• 太空气候：数十至数百年时间尺度上太阳活动的长期变化及其对地球环境的影响
所有这些都会对人类活动产生影响。例如，恶劣的太空天气会影响我们越来越依赖的技术，如电力和GPS网络。为了应对因老化导致的退化风险，以及保存和利用旧数据的愿望，BGS启动了一项工作计划，对英国磁场变化的模拟纸张记录进行数字化摄影、归档和保存。在2009年至2013年期间，拍摄了所有可用磁图的优质数字图像。这些图像现在可在网上搜索。全球的科学家和公众现在可以轻松访问这一历史数据集。