Introduction to Geomagnetism

After briefly introducing myself, I explore the Sun-Earth magnetic environment, starting with the concepts of magnetism followed by the Basic Characteristics of Earth’s dipole magnetic field and what is thought to be its origin. Earth’s magnetosphere is described along with a breakdown of Earth’s Main Field and External Field components. The magnetic field operates on a very wide range of time scales, which are discussed. An important reason for understanding Earth’s magnetic field is how it is influenced and disturbed by Space Weather. Space weather is entirely controlled by the Sun, so the four major sources of geomagnetic disturbances, flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal hole high-speed streams and corotating interaction regions, are shown through the use of animations. Space weather affects satellite and terrestrial radio communication systems so these characteristics are briefly explored.