Geomagnetic Department The Department runs a geomagnetic observatory at Budkov (BDV, southern Bohemia). Origins of regular measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field are dated back to 1839. Since 1992, the observatory is digitized (a modification of the CANMOS system was installed in co-operation with the Geomagnetic Observatory of the Geological Survey of Canada) and in 1994 the observatory became part of the INTERMAGNET Network (www.intermagnet.org). The Geomagnetic Department has been issuing daily forecasts of geomagnetic activity for Central Europe since 1994, weekly forecasts began in spring 1995. Since 1998 the short term forecasts have been sent to Czech TV. They are presented as part of the Weather Forecast and displayed on the teletext of Czech TV. At present, the forecasts, as well as reports of the actual state of the geomagnetic field in our region, are available on the web pages of the Regional Warning Centre Prague. A group of researchers of the department is involved in numerical modelling of the geodynamo and participates in an INTAS Project 03-51-5807 “Long-time magnetohydrodynamics of the Earth, planets and moons”, in close cooperation with the Research Computing Centre of the Moscow State University. Furthermore, it participates in the COST724 Action “Developing the scientific basis for monitoring, modelling and predicting Space Weather”. Finally, researchers of the department are involved in basic rock magnetic reasearch and its environmental applications, mainly focusing on the identification and magnetic characterization of different iron-bearing minerals occurring in various environments. An EU 5FP Project MAGPROX was completed in 2004. Within this Project, we collaborated with laboratories in Poland (Zabrze), Germany (Tuebingen) and Austria (Leoben). In addition to that, several bi-lateral cooperations contribute greatly to this research (e.g., Sofia, Bulg.aria; Dourbes, Belgium; Aix en Provence, France). Head of the department: RNDr. Eduard Petrovský, CSc. |
