Center for Space Science and Engineering Research

South Pole Low-Powered Magnetometers

Recent Data Plots


SY1 data

SYSTEM 1 Magnetometer Data


SY2 data

SYSTEM 2 Magnetometer Data


SY3 data

SY3 Magnetometer Data


SY4 data

SYSTEM 4 Magnetometer Data


SY5 data

SYSTEM 5 Magnetometer Data


SY6 data

SYSTEM 6 Magnetometer Data


About These Magnetometer Instruments


A digital, low-powered magnetometer system was tested at South Pole in 2006-2007 and moved onto the Antarctic Plateau in Jan 2008. System 1 (SY1) is at location PG1, lat=-85.50 lon=77.20. Systems 3 and 4, with more advanced designs, were installed at South Pole Station (lat =-89.98) in December, 2010. After a year of testing, System 3 was moved to the Antarctic Plateau in January 2012, to location PG2, lat= -84.42 lon= 57.96. (Replacing System 2, which had been at PG2 from Jan. 2009 through Dec. 2010.) Systems 5 and 6, and refurbished System 2, were placed at South Pole Station in December 2011-January 2012. These other magnetometers will be moved to the Antarctic Plateau in the next Antarctic Summer.
The systems are designed for 5-year operation, unattended. 1-second vector geomagnetic variations are transmitted from the station via Iridium satellite communications links. To save power during the dark winter, the vector magnetic data are stored and only station housekeeping data are transmitted. The stored winter data are retrieved during the summer when power is available from the solar panels. The graphs above show the most recent data that have been obtained.

The digital, low-powered magnetometers in Antarctica are operated by a collaboration between Space @ Virginia Tech , the Space Physics Research Laboratory  at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton, VA. Professor C. Robert Clauer is the PI at Virginia Tech.

This effort is supported by the National Science Foundation throught the following awards: OPP-0341470 (PENGUIn consortium), OPP-0341158 (Michigan PENGUIn component), and CEDAR/AMISR ATM-0728538 to Virginia Tech.

 Warning: The plots displayed on this page are provided only for non-commercial monitoring purposes.