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The Nature
of the Schumann Resonance
Is
It Changing?
At present
there is a rather confused set of ideas being circulated on the changing of the
so-called Schumann Resonance, and its relation to the long awaited Earth
changes. I would like to present some simple images that will hopefully
help to clear this issue up, and lead to a more balanced consideration of this
phenomenon. The
statement has been made that "the Schumann Resonance (SR) is rising, and is
approaching 13 Hz, from its "normal" frequency of just shy of 8
Hz." Let's take this statement apart a bit. Just what is the Schumann
Resonance? It is known
that all electromagnetic radiations which we measure in our local space travel
very close to c, the speed of light, or 3*10^8 m/sec. Also, electromagnetic
waves will bounce and reflect off of conductive surfaces, and this is how long
distances are traversed by radio waves. Surrounding the Earth, there is a
multi-layered complex of charged particles called the ionosphere, which acts as
a reflector for low frequency radio signals. The conductivity of the ionosphere
is constantly changing in response to the effects of the sun and its various
outputs of flares, sunspots, and waves of many frequencies. At very low
frequencies, there is a greater conductivity of the Earth itself, and so a
tendency for some radio signals, called ground waves, to follow the Earth, or
even go through the Earth, which is useful for submarine communication. This
creates a situation where there are two concentric spherical conductive
surfaces, the earth and the ionosphere, forming a closed volume or cavity. A more
familiar cavity might be a bottle, which can be made to give a tone by blowing
air across its opening. This is a simple acoustic resonance, and is formed by
the creation of a standing wave inside the bottle. The Earth-ionosphere cavity
has a similar sort of resonance, which can be thought of as being formed by a
standing electromagnetic wave that encircles the whole globe, supported between
the two conductive layers. Imagine a single wave of electromagnetism that has a
length that encircles the planet. As it takes just under 1/8 of a second to
transit the circumference of the globe at the speed of light, then we can
understand that the base resonant frequency of the planet will be on the order
of ~8 cycles per second, or 8 Hz. Another
aspect of the Earth-ionosphere cavity is that it has a very large electrical
charge, like a capacitor. This charge is dissipated by lightning strikes, which
are occurring in large numbers at all times around the Earth. This charge is
constantly being replenished by input from the sun, and by other means. The
continual crackle of this static discharge, created by the presence of
thunderstorms across the planet, is akin to the blowing of air across the bottle
mouth. It keeps the cavity excited and in oscillation. There are
many stations which actually measure this low frequency oscillation, such as the
one at Stanford, which gives daily measurements What is
unlike the bottle example above, can be explained by an engineering concept
called "Q", or quality factor. The bottle, or its more refined cousin
the organ pipe, has a well-defined pitch, and so is deemed to have a high Q. The
Earth's cavity, as it turns out, does not have a high Q. Further, it has a
number of different frequencies at which it likes to resonate, like the
overtones which can be made by over blowing a flute. Some of these frequencies
are (rounded): 8, 14, 20, 26, 32, 37, and 42 Hz. It is these various standing
waves that are referred to by the term Schumann Resonance. When measuring the
SR, it is normal for one or the other of these modes to suddenly stand out for a
brief moment, to be replaced by another, or by noise. The actual
measured waves at any site will not show any of these frequencies, except only
very intermittently, due to the low Q of any of these modes. That is to say, the
Earth does not make for a very good "filter" of the crackling
lightning discharges. So in order to create the data which is given by any of
the various measuring stations around the world, this noisy signal must be
heavily processed and analyzed, so as to make the various resonant conditions
stand out more clearly. This requires that the filtering algorithms are to a
certain degree tuned to what the researchers are expecting to find. There are
other sources of ELF radiation that can enter this picture as well. Consider the
possible cyclotron radiation of atmospheric particles hypothesized by Dr. H. A.
Aspden. Yet another factor is a source of electromagnetic waves called Alfven
resonator bands that occur in the same region as the SR. Without getting too
involved, it can be said that the required knowledge and experience to
adequately interpret Earth energy field data is very high. It is not something
which allows for any speedy conclusions. An excellent summary of the many
naturally occurring frequencies which are measurable on the Earth is given by E.
E. Richard. It is often stated that the SR is "7.83 Hz". As
Bill Ramsay points out, this would tend to indicate a high precision of
measurement. It is actually due to a high degree of averaging, like saying the
average family has 2.3 children. (Pity those families with the .3!) At any given
location, the measured SR will be different, and it will change with a variety
of conditions in time. Some locations may be seeing one mode or frequency more
than others, due to the complex nature of the way spherical cavities can
accommodate standing wave patterns. This is somewhat similar to what happens on
a Chladni plate, which is made from the standing wave pattern created on a steel
plate by sound waves vibrating loose sand particles. This shows the intricate
ways in which standing waves mutually coexist to create patterns of great
beauty. The case for three dimensions in a spherical cavity is yet more complex.
It is, however, a useful image to keep in mind when considering the
electromagnetic pulsations of the Earth, which are complex, and always shifting.
One location may be different from the next, due to being on a node or loop of a
standing wave. What is stressed is the theoretical nature of the mathematically
derived figures for the SR, based on various aspects of linear system theory,
and long term averaging. It is not an easily observed, tone-like signal. Dr. Phil
Calahan has taken measurements from a number of locations on the planet, both of
the overall magnetic strength, and the ambient electromagnetic waveforms in the
air, and has found that each place has somewhat different values. He has related
this to the level of paramagnetic (para means essentially "weak")
soils and rocks in any given location. His books on this subject are well worth
reading (see "Para magnetism", available from Acres USA). Michael Heleus has calculated the conditions for the primary, base SR resonance to actually shift to 13 Hz. This would require that the Earth becomes much smaller, or the speed of light must change drastically. |
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Copyright © 2010
Tim Stouse
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