Center for Space Science and Engineering Research

Antarctic Low-Powered Magnetometers

Recent Data Plots


PG1 data

PG1 Magnetometer Data, lat=-85.50 lon=77.20


PG2 data

PG2 Magnetometer Data, lat= -84.42 lon= 57.96

Now at South Pole Station:


SY2 data

SY4 data

SY5 data

SY6 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 January 2008 to location 'PG1', at lat=-85.50 lon=77.20. Another magnetometer was placed at 'PG2', lat= -84.42 lon= 57.96, in January 2009 and removed in December 2010 for repairs. Magnetometers having more advanced designs, including the addition of search coils, were installed at South Pole Station (lat =-89.98) in December, 2010 for testing (named 'System 3' and 'System 4' until final placement). 'System 3' was moved to location PG2 in January 2012. 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, 2013. These magnetometers will complete the PENGUIn (Polar Experimental Network for Geospace Upper atmosphere Investigations) 40 degree magnetic meridian chain, conjugate to a chain on the western Greenland coast.
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 through the following awards: ANT0839858, ATM922979 (Virginia Tech), and ANT0838861 (University of Michigan).

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