{"id":86493,"date":"2022-07-28T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/?p=86493"},"modified":"2024-02-27T09:39:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T09:39:36","slug":"uks-geomagnetic-blind-spots-tackled-with-new-observatories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.ac.uk\/news\/uks-geomagnetic-blind-spots-tackled-with-new-observatories\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s geomagnetic blind spots tackled with new observatories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Three new underground geomagnetic observatories in County Fermanagh, Leicestershire and Sussex will detect and eventually help predict space weather, which can potentially disrupt power grids, satellite communications and the GPS on smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were installed underground in quiet, rural locations by the BGS Geomagnetism team. The solar-powered observatories will collect data about Earth\u2019s natural magnetic field and send it back to BGS in real-time, using the mobile phone network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we need new geomagnetic observatories?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intense geomagnetic storms can have an adverse impact on technology like
power systems, satellite operations and smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t

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The new magnetometers mean we now have full coverage of magnetic field change across the UK.<\/p>\n

Very large geomagnetic storms produce widespread aurora. While beautiful, they have the potential to be incredibly disruptive.<\/p>\n

They could cause power disruption and affect essential services like satellite communications and transport.<\/p>\n

Now that we have monitors in our blind spots, we will better understand in detail where and what ground effects can occur and understand why they happened.<\/p>\n

Dr Ciar\u00e1n Beggan, BGS Geophysicist.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n

Britain has had geomagnetic observatories in Shetland, Eskdalemuir and
Devon since 1908, covering the country from north to south; the three new observatories<\/a> will improve the breadth of measurements from west to east.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Zones of influence for the geomagnetic observatories.<\/p>\n

The blue dots are existing observatories in the UK, Ireland and in northern Europe. The green dots are new UK observatories, three of which BGS<\/span> installed in the past six months. The graded colouring from red to yellow shows the distance away from each location (up to 300 km away). <\/span>No UK observatory is more than about 350 km (yellow colour) from its nearest neighbour and every part of the UK is within 200\u00a0km of an observatory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Aberdeen observatory is operated by Lancaster AuroraWatch<\/a>, not BGS.<\/span><\/p>\n

BGS \u00a9 UKRI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\"Expand<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Mitigating a national risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Severe space weather was included in the UK Government\u2019s National Risk Register 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geomagnetic storms are one form of space weather. They interrupt essential
services by creating geoelectric fields in the subsurface, which then flow
into transformers, pipelines and railways, causing malfunctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other effects include an increase in the density of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere), which disrupts radio waves passing through it. This leads to a loss of signal between the ground and satellites, affecting communications and the accuracy of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A huge number of technology systems rely on GNSS, including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n