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Schumann resonance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Schumann resonance (SR)
is a set of spectrum peaks in theextremely low frequency(ELF) portion of theEarth'selectromagnetic fieldspectrum. Schumann resonances are global electromagneticresonances, excited by lightningdischarges in the cavity formed by the Earthsurface and theionosphere.
Contents
•
1 Description
•
2 History
•
3 Basic Theory
•
4 Measurements
•
5 Applications
o
5.1 Global lightning activity
5.1.1 Diurnal variations
5.1.1.1 ”Chimney” ranking
5.1.1.2 Influence of the day-night asymmetry
5.1.2 The “inverse problem”
o
5.2 Transient luminous events research
o
5.3 Climate change research
5.3.1 Global temperature
5.3.2 Upper tropospheric water vapor 
o
5.4 Extraterrestrial lightning
•
6 Popular culture
•
7 See also
•
8 References
•
9 External articles and references
Description
This global electromagneticresonancephenomenon is named after physicist Winfried Otto Schumann who  predicted it mathematically in 1952. Schumann resonance occurs because the space between the surface of theEarthand the conductiveionosphere acts as awaveguide.The limited dimensions of theEarthcause this waveguideto act as aresonant cavityfor  electromagnetic waves in theELFband. The cavity is naturally excited  by energy fromlightningstrikes. Schumann resonances are observed in the power spectra of the naturalelectromagnetic background noise, as separate peaks at extremely low frequencies (ELF) around 8, 14, 20, 26and 32 Hz.Thefundamental mode of the Schumann resonance is astanding wavein the Earth-ionosphere cavity with a wavelength equal to thecircumferenceof the Earth. This lowest-frequency (and highest-intensity) mode of the Schumannresonanceoccurs at afrequencyof approximately 7.8 Hz. The ninthovertone lies at approximately 60 Hz and thus the cavity is also driven by the North American  power grid. Detectable overtones extend upwards into the kilohertz range.Schumann resonances are used to track globallightningactivity. Owing to the connection betweenlightning  activity and the Earth'sclimatethey can also be used to monitor global temperature variations and variations of 
 
upper water vapor. Extraterrestrial lightning may also be detected and studied with Schumann resonances.Schumann resonance has been used for research and monitoring of the lower ionosphereon Earthand was suggested for exploration of lower ionosphereparameters on celestialbodies. Schumann resonances can be used to track geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances. More recently, Schumann resonances have been used for monitoring transient luminous events – sprites, elves, jets, and other upper atmospheric lightning. A new field of interest using Schumann resonances is related to short-term earthquake  prediction. Schumann resonances have gone beyond the boundaries of  physics, invadingmedicine, raising interest in artists and musicians, and gaining interest from fringe fields such as psychobiology.
History
The first suggestion that anionosphere existed, capable of trappingelectromagnetic waves, was made by Heavisideand Kennelly in 1902
[1]
 
[2]
. It took another twenty years beforeEdward Appletonand Barnett in 1925
[3]
, were able to prove experimentally the existence of theionosphere. However, even prior to this, the firstdocumented observations of global electromagnetic resonances were made by Nikola Teslain 1905 and formed the basis for his scheme for wireless communication 
[4]
. Although some of the most important mathematicaltools for dealing with sphericalwaveguideswere developed by Watson in 1918 
[5]
, it wasWinfried OttoSchumannwho first studied the theoretical aspects of the globalresonancesof the earth-ionospherewaveguide  system, known today as the Schumann resonances. In 1952-1954 Schumann, together with Köning, attemptedto measure the resonant frequencies
[6]
 
[7]
 
[8]
 
[9]
 . However, it was not until measurements made by Balser andWagner in 1960-1963
[10]
 
[11]
 
[12]
 
[13]
 
[14]
that adequate analysis techniques were available to extract theresonance information from the background noise. Since then there has been an increasing interest in Schumannresonances in a wide variety of fields.
Basic Theory
Lightning discharges are considered as the primary natural source of Schumann resonances. Lightning channels behave like a huge antenna which radiates electromagnetic energyas impulsive signals at frequencies below about 100 kHz
[15]
.These signals are very weak, but the earth-ionospherewaveguidebehaves like aresonator at ELF frequencies and amplifies the spectral signals fromlightningat theresonancefrequencies
[15]
.In an ideal cavity, theresonant frequencyof the
n
-th mode
 f 
n
is determined by theEarth radius 
a
and thespeedof light 
c
 
[6]
.The real Earth-ionospherewaveguide is not a perfect electromagnetic cavity. Losses due to finiteionosphere  electrical conductivitymake the system resonate at lower frequencies than would be expected in an ideal case,and the observed peaks are wide. In addition there are a number of horizontal asymmetries – day-nighttransition, latitudinal changes in the Earth magnetic field, sudden ionospheric disturbances, polar cap absorption, etc. that complicate the Schumann resonance power spectra.
Measurements
Today Schumann resonances are recorded by many stations around the world. The electromagnetic sensors usedto measure Schumann resonances consist of two horizontal antennas for receiving themagnetic fieldin thenorth-south and the east-west direction and one vertical antenna for observing the vertical electric field. Since Schumann resonance frequencies are extremely low, practical antennas would have to be hundreds of kilometerslong. In addition, the Schumann resonance electric field is much smaller than the static electric field in the
 
atmosphere and the Schumann resonance magnetic field isorders of magnitudesmaller than theEarth magnetic field 
[16]
. Therefore, special receivers and antennas are needed to measure Schumann resonances. The electriccomponent is commonly measured with a ball antenna, suggested by Ogawa et al. in 1966 
[17]
 , connected to ahigh-impedanceamplifier .Themagnetic fieldis measured with magneticinduction coilsconsisting of tens of  thousands of turns around material with very high magnetic permeability.
Applications
Global lightning activity
From the very beginning of Schumann resonance studies, they were used to monitor globallightningactivity bytracking changes in Schumann resonance field intensities. At any given time there are about 2000 thunderstorms  around theglobe 
[18]
.Producing ~50lightningevents per  second 
[19]
, thesethunderstormscreate the backgroundSchumann resonance signal.Determining the spatiallightningdistribution from Schumann resonance records is a complex problem: in order to properly estimate thelightningintensity from Schumann resonance records it is necessary to account for thedistance tolightningsources. The common approach is to make a preliminary assumption on the spatiallightningdistribution, basing on the known properties of lightning climatology. An alternative approach is  placing the receiver at the North or South Pole, which remain approximatelyequidistantfrom the mainthunderstorm centers during the day
[20]
. A distinct method, not requiring preliminary assumptions on thelightningdistribution
[21]
 is based on the decomposition of the average background Schumann resonance spectra,utilizing ratios between the average electric and magnetic spectra and between their linear combinations.
Diurnal variations
The best documented and the most debated features of the Schumann resonance phenomenon are the diurnalvariations of the background Schumann resonance power spectrum.A characteristic Schumann resonance diurnal record reflects the known properties of globallightning activity. The verticalelectric field, which is equally sensitive in all directions and therefore measures the globallightning, shows three dominant maxima, associated with the three “hot spots” of planetarylightning activity: 9 UT (Universal Time) peak, linked to the increasedthunderstormactivity from south-east Asia; 14 UT peak  associated with the peak in Africanlightningactivity; and the 20 UT peak resulting for the increase in lightning  activity in South America. The time andamplitudeof the peaks vary throughout the year, reflecting the seasonalchanges inlightningactivity.
”Chimney” ranking
In general, the African peak is the strongest, reflecting the major contribution of the African “chimney” to thegloballightningactivity. The ranking of the two other peaks – Asian and American is the subject of a vigorousdispute among Schumann resonance scientists. Experimental Schumann resonance data show a greater contribution from Asia than from South America. This contradicts optical satellite and climatologicallightning data that show the South American thunderstorm center stronger than the Asian center 
[19]
. The reason for suchdisparity remains unclear. Williams and Sátori
[22]
suggest that in order to obtain “correct” Asia-Americachimney ranking, it is necessary to remove the influence of the day/night variations in the ionosphericconductivity (day-night asymmetry influence) from the Schumann resonance records. On the other hand, such“corrected” records presented in the work by Sátori et al.
[23]
show that even after the removal of the day-nightasymmetry influence from Schumann resonance records, the Asian contribution remains greater than American.Similar results were obtained by Pechony et al.
[24]
who calculated Schumann resonance fields from satellitelightningdata. Both simulations – those neglecting the day-night asymmetry, and those taking this asymmetry
of 00

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