Space climatology is concerned with longer-term changes in the space environment that are driven almost entirely by changes in solar output.

Data from ground-based magnetic observatories, including those of the USGS Geomagnetism Program, are an excellent proxy measure of near-Earth geospace conditions, with continuous records going back decades and, sometimes, even centuries. These data can be used to study quiet-time geomagnetic tides, and decades-to-centuries-long secular change in geomagnetic disturbance and magnetic-storm occurrence that is driven by solar-terrestrial interaction and which is modulated by the ~11 year sunspot cycle. Results from space-climatology research enhance our fundamental understanding of the Sun, the Earth and the surrounding space environment; they allow us to make long-term, probabilistic forecasts of space weather and magnetic storms; and they provide context in studies of global climate change.
Below are publications associated with this project.
The magnetic tides of Honolulu
Geomagnetic detection of the sectorial solar magnetic field and the historical peculiarity of minimum 23-24
Sunspot random walk and 22-year variation
Secular trends in storm-level geomagnetic activity
Are secular correlations between sunspots, geomagnetic activity, and global temperature significant?
Revised Dst and the epicycles of magnetic disturbance: 1958-2007
- Overview
Space climatology is concerned with longer-term changes in the space environment that are driven almost entirely by changes in solar output.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.Space Climatology.(Public domain.) Data from ground-based magnetic observatories, including those of the USGS Geomagnetism Program, are an excellent proxy measure of near-Earth geospace conditions, with continuous records going back decades and, sometimes, even centuries. These data can be used to study quiet-time geomagnetic tides, and decades-to-centuries-long secular change in geomagnetic disturbance and magnetic-storm occurrence that is driven by solar-terrestrial interaction and which is modulated by the ~11 year sunspot cycle. Results from space-climatology research enhance our fundamental understanding of the Sun, the Earth and the surrounding space environment; they allow us to make long-term, probabilistic forecasts of space weather and magnetic storms; and they provide context in studies of global climate change.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
The magnetic tides of Honolulu
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.Geomagnetic detection of the sectorial solar magnetic field and the historical peculiarity of minimum 23-24
[1] Analysis is made of the geomagnetic-activityaaindex covering solar cycle 11 to the beginning of 24, 1868–2011. Autocorrelation shows 27.0-d recurrent geomagnetic activity that is well-known to be prominent during solar-cycle minima; some minima also exhibit a smaller amount of 13.5-d recurrence. Previous work has shown that the recent solar minimum 23–24 exhibited 9.0 and 6.7-d recurrence in gSunspot random walk and 22-year variation
We examine two stochastic models for consistency with observed long-term secular trends in sunspot number and a faint, but semi-persistent, 22-yr signal: (1) a null hypothesis, a simple one-parameter random-walk model of sunspot-number cycle-to-cycle change, and, (2) an alternative hypothesis, a two-parameter random-walk model with an imposed 22-yr alternating amplitude. The observed secular trendSecular trends in storm-level geomagnetic activity
Analysis is made of K-index data from groups of ground-based geomagnetic observatories in Germany, Britain, and Australia, 1868.0–2009.0, solar cycles 11–23. Methods include nonparametric measures of trends and statistical significance used by the hydrological and climatological research communities. Among the three observatory groups, German K data systematically record the highest disturbance leAre secular correlations between sunspots, geomagnetic activity, and global temperature significant?
Recent studies have led to speculation that solar‐terrestrial interaction, measured by sunspot number and geomagnetic activity, has played an important role in global temperature change over the past century or so. We treat this possibility as an hypothesis for testing. We examine the statistical significance of cross‐correlations between sunspot number, geomagnetic activity, and global surface teRevised Dst and the epicycles of magnetic disturbance: 1958-2007
A revised version of the storm-time disturbance index Dst is calculated using hourly-mean magnetic-observatory data from four standard observatories and collected over the years 1958-2007. The calculation algorithm is a revision of that established by Sugiura et al., and which is now used by the Kyoto World Data Center for routine production of Dst. The most important new development is for the re