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The magnetic tides of Honolulu

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Abstract

We review the phenomenon of time-stationary, periodic quiet-time geomagnetic tides. These are generated by the ionospheric and oceanic dynamos, and, to a lesser-extent, by the quiet-time magnetosphere, and they are affected by currents induced in the Earth's electrically conducting interior. We examine historical time series of hourly magnetic-vector measurements made at the Honolulu observatory. We construct high-resolution, frequency-domain Lomb-periodogram and maximum-entropy power spectra that reveal a panorama of stationary harmonics across periods from 0.1 to 10000.0-d, including harmonics that result from amplitude and phase modulation. We identify solar-diurnal tides and their annual and solar-cycle sideband modulations, lunar semi-diurnal tides and their solar-diurnal sidebands, and tides due to precession of lunar eccentricity and nodes. We provide evidence that a method intended for separating the ionospheric and oceanic dynamo signals by midnight subsampling of observatory data time series is prone to frequency-domain aliasing. The tidal signals we summarize in this review can be used to test our fundamental understanding of the dynamics of the quiet-time ionosphere and magnetosphere, induction in the ocean and in the electrically conducting interior of the Earth, and they are useful for defining a quiet-time baseline against which magnetospheric-storm intensity is measured.
Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Abstract or summary
Title The magnetic tides of Honolulu
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Contributing office(s) Geologic Hazards Science Center
Larger Work Title Progress in EM Induction Studies of Crust and Mantle From Land, Sea, Air, and Space lll Posters
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