Course in the "Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere" master program.

Objectives

The course covers physics, origin and governing principles of planetary magnetic fields and their dynamics. Methods for analysis and interpretation of time-varying magnetic field will be elaborated. Students will be introduced to the field of space weather and space climate; and study the hazardous effects of geomagnetic storms on critical ground and space infrastructure.

We will see how Earth's magnetic field is measured on surface and from satellites. A variety of applications, from Earth’s subsurface imaging to geomagnetic storm modelling and navigational drilling will be considered during lectures and hand-on practical Python-based exercises.

Acquired skills

• Principles of Electromagnetism, Geomagnetism and vector field analysis

• Analysis of geophysical time-series and multi-dimensional data

• Fundamentals of Machine Learning and Statistical Analysis

• Python/Jupyter programming skills

• Presentation skills, critical assessment, and analysis of scientific work..

Module Content

• Geomagnetic field: origin, history of science, spatiotemporal characteristics

• Electromagnetism: governing principles, Maxwell’s equations

• Electrical properties of rocks and minerals: conduction mechanisms

• Magnetic properties of rocks and minerals: types of materials, Curie point

• Earth’s Ionosphere and Magnetosphere

• Space weather: introduction

• Geomagnetic storms: modelling and forecast

• Magnetic fields due to oceanic currents: motional induction

• Basics of deep electromagnetic tomography of Earth’s interior

• Measuring Earth’s magnetic field: satellite and ground observations

• Data processing and time-series analysis of magnetic fields

• Applications: georesource exploration, navigational drilling, tomography

Exercises (Python/Jupyter)

• Determination of Earth’s magnetic field parameters using European Space Agency Satellite data

• Machine-learning forecasting of a geomagnetic storm

• Extraction of magnetic signals due to lunar ocean tide using multi-variate statistical methods

• Time series analysis of space weather measurements

• Linear inverse problem for magnetic susceptibility of rocks

• Non-linear inverse problem for electromagnetic sounding of the mantle