Three SWARM satellites have discovered strange magnetic waves inside the Earth

All too often, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes remind us that the depths of our planet are not a calm and quiet place. In fact, there is a lot going on there, but almost no information about us comes to the surface. A trio of European mission satellites are doing us a very valuable service in this regard Swarm.

These three identical probes measures signals coming from the earth’s crust, oceans, ionosphere, magnetosphere, as well as magnetic signals coming from the earth’s core. It is the only method available today that can provide real access deep to the center of the Earth. This is confirmed by the recent remarkable discovery of a new type of magnetic wave, from the outer core.

Seven-year waves

It is a mystery for experts – The discovered magnetic waves have a period of seven years and propagate westwards at a speed of about 1,500 kilometers per year. „Geophysicists have long assumed the existence of such waves. However, they thought that they appeared on a much larger time scale than our research showed,” explains Nicolas Gillet from the French University of Grenoble-Alpes.

TIP: The Road to the Core: What are the conditions in the heart of the Earth?

As for the research itself, Gillet explains:We combined satellite measurements of the Swarm trio, as well as previous observations of the German mission Champ and the Danish mission Ørsted, with a computer model of the Earth’s magnetic field to explain the observed data – and the result is our discovery.“

Understanding the context around the Earth’s geomagnetic field is very important to us. This field is our shield from the murderous sun and cosmic rays, and we should get to know it as best we can.

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