The Earth has an electric heart and electromagnetic waves known as the
Schumann resonance are the pulse the modes of the extremely low frequency Schumann resonance
propagate and sustain in between the conductive ground surface and conductive ionosphere of
earth the foundational Schumann resonance has a frequency of approximately 7.8 hertz
its wavelength being the same length as the circumference of our planet higher frequency modes
of decreasing power exists at approximately 14 20 26 and 32 hertz and as the different waves of
the Schumann resonance wrap around the earth they overlap with themselves sustaining and resonating
as a multi-layered electromagnetic signal atmospheric electrical discharges otherwise
known as lightning create and sustain the em waves of the Schumann resonance while changes in
the ionosphere and solar events also can alter the characteristics of the Schumann resonance
in this video we will explore the many factors which influence the Schumann resonance across
a 24-hour diurnal time scale i'm your host Stefan and welcome to Geophysics Explained
existing in the range of eight to forty hertz the Schumann resonance is about one hundred
thousand times lower frequency than the lowest frequency radio waves used for AM and FM radio
because of their ultra low frequency and global generation
Schumann resonance waves can be detected anywhere on earth underwater and even underground this
makes extremely low frequency Schumann waves accessible to anyone for research worldwide
and a global network of magnetometer observation stations has existed since the 1990s
decadal yearly and seasonal trends in the Schumann resonance are of interest to geoscientists
worldwide and there is also a strong interest in how the Schumann EM waves change on average
over a 24-hour day-to-night cycle though the Schumann resonance is a worldwide electromagnetic
phenomenon and it can be measured globally local electromagnetic effects alter the data in one
location versus another location on the other side of the globe lightning strikes the primary
energy source of the Schumann resonance will alter the resonant waves closer to the lightning
two stations measuring the Schumann resonance at the same time one at night and other during
daylight will observe slight differences in the waves from each other because the height
and relative ionization of the ionosphere changes from day to night quantifying the
diurnal changes that impact the Schumann resonance electromagnetic waves is important as it allows
scientists to better understand all the different components that affect the Schumann resonance
with this information the more subtle effects of the Schumann resonance as impacted by the sun
cosmos and even brainwaves can be observed by first correcting for diurnal patterns
there are a lot of terms that will be used throughout the video and it's okay to not
be familiar with all of them term definitions are in the video description the most obvious
way Schumann radio waves change over a 24-hour cycle is in their power when lightning activity
increases mean power of the Schumann resonance modes increases as well these power changes due
to lightning are observable worldwide and when lightning is happening near the observation
station the power increases for the different modes of the Schumann resonance are even greater
without nearby lightning the Schumann resonance can still be distinguished from the overall
electromagnetic spectrum easily but when the broad 200 kilometer radius area around an observation
region is experiencing lightning at the maximum amount possible this meaning the sum of lightning
energy is in the range of 1 to 10 mega amperes then the following increases in power for the
modes of the Schumann resonance is observed the foundational first mode increases in power by up
to 30 percent the power of the higher modes is more easily increased from local lightning with
mode 2 power increasing by 50 percent power for modes 3 and 5 increasing by a whopping 120 percent
and mode 4 power increasing by 70 percent these large power increases for the different modes
are for when extremely high energy thunderstorms pass near the observation station recording the
data a lightning storm passing nearby or overhead of any strength will increase the power of the
Schumann resonance waves experienced locally an interesting side note is that just as mode
3 and 4 power increases by over 100 percent from lightning in a local area mode 3 and 4 power has
been observed to increase by a similar amount in a local area days before a high magnitude earthquake
the electrical currents of the earth and atmosphere are intimately linked something
Nikolai Tesla knew and was working on more than 100 years ago it's speculated that it was tesla
who first predicted the electromagnetic waves known as the Schumann resonance but as most of his
notes and work was destroyed we might never know the truth i do quite like the alternate moniker
of tesla waves though zooming out from local atmospheric effects world thunderstorm intensity
is varied no more than 3-fold over average during the day in other words it's highly unlikely for
any single day to experience more than 3 times the amount of lightning compared to the daily average
on a higher than average lightning day the Schumann resonance will change in response
but typically the effects of lightning on the Schumann resonance are predictable
thunderstorm regions around the world pulse in activity in a clock-like manner and the
frequency ranges of the Schumann resonance modes changes with them the three universal lightning
centers also known as chimneys are southeast asia and australia africa and south america due to
these tropical regions having deep electrically active atmospheric convection approximately two
of every three lightning flashes occur in the latitude interval of plus or minus 23 degrees
so it is when these lightning regions are most active that we see the largest diurnal
variations in the Schumann resonance modes before continuing we must understand that electromagnetic
waves are the sum of three component vectors two horizontal and parallel to the ground
x and y and one vertical and perpendicular to the ground z when measuring the Schumann resonance and
its different parameters it's important to note for which component the measurements apply to
for a better understanding of the three components of a magnetic field watch my
magnetics and types of magnetism geophysics explained video southeast asia africa and south
america lightning chimneys peak and discharge at approximately 8:00 15:00 and 20:00 hours UTC
respectively power maxima for the Schumann resonance modes are observed at approximately 7:00
in 19:00 UTC for the north-south magnetic component these maxima are closely lined with the
peak lightning discharges of the southeast asia and south america lightning chimneys the east-west
magnetic component has anti-phase behavior to the north-south magnetic component with a power maxima
observed diurnally at 14:00 UTC this doubling of power in east-west component is correlated with
the daily peak lightning discharge of the african lightning chimney at approximately 15:00 UTC
these peaks in the Schumann resonance power occur about 30 to 60 minutes before peak lightning
activity for the region they are associated with as the power of the Schumann resonance begins to
decrease from one of its three diurnal maxima two north-south components and one east-west
activity for each lightning chimney increases to its peak amplitude Einstein taught us that energy
is neither created nor destroyed so it's plausible that just as lightning creates Schumann resonance
waves so does the global energy reserve known as the Schumann resonance play a role in the creation
of lightning gases in the upper atmosphere such as water and carbon dioxide absorb electromagnetic
radiation and heat up and the Schumann resonance sits at the middle of the complex relationship
that exists between extremely low frequency radio waves the ionosphere deep electrical
convection in the atmosphere global temperature and subsurface electrical currents more research
is required to understand the complexities of the relationship between Schumann resonance waves
and weather Schumann resonance power is not the only variable to change over a 24 hour time span
there exists an inverse relationship between power and frequency when Schumann resonance
power for mode 1 is at its maxima frequency reaches a minimum approximately 2 hours later
these frequency minima for mode 1 are at 10:00 to 11:00 UTC and 21:00 to 23:00 UTC for the
north-south magnetic component for the east-west magnetic component there is a frequency minima
from 14:00 to 17:00 UTC diurnal frequency maxima for mode 1 are observed at 03:00-05:00 UTC and a
broad maxima between 14:00 to 20:00 UTC for the north-south magnetic component frequency maxima
are observed at 08:00 to 10:00 UTC and 19:00 to 21:00 UTC for the east-west magnetic component
these diurnal frequency maxima and minima for mode 1 exist in the range from 7.7 to 8.1 hertz
and on any given day the frequency of mode 1 typically won't vary by more than 0.2 hertz
to simplify the whole relationship when the power of mode 1 increases frequency decreases
and vice versa a 50 to 100 increase in the power of the first mode will cause the frequency to dip
by up to 0.2 hertz there is also a correlation between Schumann resonance power and q factor
the dampening of a wave a higher q factor indicates a resonator loses
less energy and is better able to sustain itself whereas a low q factor indicates
that a resonator will dampen out quickly a good example of a resonator is a pendulum
for the foundational mode the correlation is strong between power and q factor
and when mode 1 power moves up or down so does q factor in the same direction more complex
and variable relationships between power and q factor emerge when observing across all the modes
for example with this data here we observe a linear trend of increasing resonance from mode 1
through to mode 4 over the course of 8 hours with two large power surges during this time
occurring at the beginning and end of the phenomenon there is a general consistent
pattern in the frequency and power of modes 1 2 and 3 throughout the day for the east-west
magnetic component and this is due to the influence of the african lightning chimney
peaking in activity at approximately 15:00 UTC one power maxima for modes 1 2 and 3 is observed
daily in the east-west magnetic component from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC daily frequency charts for
modes 1 2 and 3 look remarkably consistent in the east-west magnetic component as well with
the most obvious feature being a steep frequency minima for all three modes at 14:00 to 16:00 UTC
this being the same time is when the power for the three modes reach their daily maxima
for the north-south magnetic component there are differences between the modes diurnally
mode 1 has two distinct frequency maxima whereas mode 2 has 4 frequency maxima and mode 3 has 6
frequency maxima throughout the day with ascending mode number signal-to-noise ratios decrease
variability in the measurements increases and it's harder to extract information
and patterns from the data it's for this reason we focus on the diurnal changes of mode 1 so much as
the bulk of the energy that makes up the Schumann resonance propagates as the foundational mode at
approximately 7.8 hertz the signal-to-noise ratio is highest in the foundational mode and therefore
the cause and effect between lightning power frequency and q-factor are the easiest to observe
the other large contributor of energy to the Schumann resonance besides the lightning is the
ionosphere with the earth spinning on its axis a new region of the ionosphere is always undergoing
sunrise with solar lyman alpha radiation occurring nearly instantly in the ionosphere's D
region 60 to 100 kilometers in altitude the rays of the sun will hit the ionosphere before the
surface of the planet and when ionospheric sunrise begins nitric oxide gas ionizes and
electrons reduce to the lowest energetic level emitting electromagnetic energy in the process
sunrise hits the ionosphere 100 kilometers up about 45 minutes before the surface of the planet
and less than 30 minutes after this the amplitude of the Schumann resonance has already increased
significantly from ionospheric sunrise the foundational mode will increase in amplitude
on average by 12% and similarly decrease quickly by the same amount from ionospheric sunset from
ionospheric sunrise and sunset mode 2 increases and decreases in amplitude on average by 16%
and mode 3 increases or decreases in amplitude on average by 25% ionospheric sunrise and sunset
increases the amplitude changes of the higher modes to a greater percentage than mode 1 but
the overall energy increase and decrease is still predominantly in mode 1 as the foundational mode
is a better resonator and therefore a much larger store of electromagnetic energy than modes 2 3 4 5
and beyond with a high enough sampling interval the clock-like accuracy of the ionospheric
Schumann resonance amplitude variations can be revealed on the time scale of minutes
magnetometer observation stations measuring the Schumann resonance at lesser time resolutions
can misinterpret this ionospheric effect and attribute the changes to lightning variations if
occurring at the same time this would be location dependent many sources of energy contribute to the
electromagnetic waves of the Schumann resonance the spin of the earth feeds the Schumann resonance
constantly while the three dominant lightning chimneys of southeast asia and australia africa
and south america boost the signal significantly at 8:00 15:00 and 20:00 hours UTC respectively
human brains also create electromagnetic waves in the same frequency range of the Schumann resonance
and while it's impossible for brainwaves not to impact the Schumann resonance
because they share the same frequency ranges the impact of the effect from human cognition
on the global Schumann resonance is unknown to recap one of the clearest diurnal patterns
of the Schumann resonance is between power of the modes and global lightning chimney activity
around the same time lightning activity is at its daily greatest in one of the chimneys
the power of the Schumann resonance will also be at or near one of its total power maxima
there is also a clear relationship in the foundational mode between power and frequency
when mode 1 power increases frequency decreases and vice versa for the higher modes the frequency
to power relationship still exists but has greater variability in expression q factor diurnal
variability is approximately similar across the different modes if experiencing lightning
activity near you the power of the different Schumann electromagnetic waves will be increased
over baseline and the amount of power increased depends on the total lightning energy discharge
just before sunrise and sunset the Schumann resonance will also change in amplitude
the Schumann resonance will be strongest and lowest frequency at different times during the
day depending on where you live and I encourage you to convert the UTC times from this video into
your local time to find out when this is thanks for watching this Geophysics Explained video
if you enjoyed the video politely click the like button and subscribe for more content like this
share the video with others who are interested in electromagnetic energy
in the Schumann resonance and if you have any questions or comments please leave them below the
information presented in this video is complex and takes time to understand if you find yourself not
fully grasping everything I suggest you continue your research either by re-watching the video or
by studying the research papers linked in the video description Blessings to all. Namaste