EPSO Geomagnetic Observations - Examples of quiet and disturbed conditions


Magnetogram comparisons

When viewing EPSO magnetometer traces it is useful to know what things typically look like during geomagnetically quiet and disturbed conditions.  The table below shows a plot of the current conditions and also similar plots recorded during quiet and disturbed periods.
Current EPSO Magnetometer observations
 Example of quiet geomagnetic conditions

Example of commencement of geomagnetic storm
 Example of disturbed geomagnetic conditions
 

Kp comparisons

Likewise it is useful to know how current Kp measurements compare with those recorded during geomagnetically disturbed periods.

Current Kp index from the NOAA/SWPC
 Kp measured during a geomagnetic storm (June 22-25, 2015)



What mid-latitude aurora look like during a geomagnetic storm

During the geomagnetic storm of 23rd June, 2015 Aurora Australis/Borealis were observed around the globe at places far removed from the Earth's polar regions.  These sightings were widely recorded in the Australian news media.  At Coonabarabran the aurora appeared as a reddening on the southern horizon, which was captured in the adjacent EPSO all-sky-camera image logged at 5:35am AEST* on the 23rd January (*UTC time = 19:35 on the 22nd January), where it appears as a pink tinge at the bottom of the picture.  This reddening, resembling a sunrise twilight, was visible at Coonabarabran from around 5:20-5:55am, and for those with a clear southern horizon the view would probably have been somewhat more spectacular that the adjacent grainy image. It is possible that early morning observers may have also noticed this aurora moving and flickering.

EPSO all-sky-camera images from 05:15-05:55am were combined to make a movie.  Individual frames for the movie, which had been snapped every minute, were played back at 10 frames per second to produce a 4-second movie.  The camera was partially dew-covered at the time and the aurora only really began to show well during the few minutes before dawn twilight.  This movie may be downloaded in .mov and .avi formats (12.3 & 3.2Megabytes respectively).  Twilight is also a good time to observe satellites drifting across the sky, and in the movie these appear like shooting stars, sometimes brightening abruptly as sunlight glints off flat and shiny surfaces on the satellite.

The brightest Aurora Australis I ever saw was during the night of the 13-14th March 1989, observed from Corona Station located in western NSW, Australia.  This display occurred during an unusually intense geomagnetic storm that for several hours filled the southern half of our night sky with a diffuse crimson red colour.  This particular geomagnetic storm is sometime referred to as the Quebec Blackout Storm as the disturbances to the Earth's magnetic field upset the electrical power distribution system in Quebec, Canada, causing it to shut down.