Measurement of electric potential difference on trees

Electrical potential differences have been continuously recorded since 1997 between electrodes inserted in sixteen selected sites of the trunk of a Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) and in the ground. The measured electric potential difference data have a characteristic sinusoidal daily variation. The annual fluctuation of the mean daily amplitudes of these diurnal variations has at least two maxima per year. We found a remarkable correlation between electric potential differences (EPD), the water potential of air and sap flux density data. It means that the EPD follows the variations of the sap flow intensity

Effect of Positional Inaccuracies on Multielectrode Results

We have started to investigate the consequences of various noises o the interpreted results for various multielectrode arrays. We expect, it will be possible to find out, what kinds of noise have the most effect on the resulting data. Such an investigation may lead to a better elimination of potential errors due to noises. In the first step (presented in this paper) we studied the appearance of false anomalies due to positioning errors of the electrodes. In realistic field conditions, in spite of the greatest possible care, the electrode positions contain some inaccuracy: either in case of dense undergrowth, or varied topography, or very rocky field. In all these cases, it is not possible to put the electrodes in their theoretical position. As a consequence, the position data will contain some error. The extent of such inaccuracies was exactly determined by using a laser distance meter. Then, we computed their effect on the resulting apparent- and inverted resistivity data. We carried out such a study for Wenner, Wenner-beta, pole-dipole and pole-pole arrays. In the light of our conclusions, the usual assumption about random noise seems to be an oversimplification

Geoelektromágnesség és a változó Föld = Geoelectromagnetism and the changing Earth

A témában folyó tevékenység magában foglalja a Nagycenki Geofizikai Obszervatórium műszerezettségének fejlesztését (geomágneses mérőrendszerek, ionoszonda), de más műszer- és módszerfejlesztéseket is. Az obszervatórium adatai adatbázisban hozzáférhetők. A Nagycenki és a Tihanyi Obszervatórium valamint állandó és időszakos hálózatok mérési adatai alapján különösen az egyes paraméterek hosszú idejű változásainak vizsgálata folyt. Így a geomágneses tevékenység szekuláris növekedését, légköri elektromos potenciálgradiens csökkenését valamint a geomágneses pulzációk téli/decemberi csillapításának 11 éves modulációját sikerült kimutatni. Több módszerrel is (pulzációk, whistlerek, modellezés) pontosultak a magnetoszféra szerkezetére és jellemző paramétereire vonatkozó ismeretek. Keresték a földrengések elektromágneses előfutárait. Jelentősen bővültek a villámtevékenységből eredő Schumann rezonanciára valamint elektromágneses tranziensekre vonatkozó ismeretek. Az ionoszférabeli elektronsűrűség esetében jelentős tengerpart-hatás mutatkozott. Az altalaj ellenállásában a globális éghajlatváltozás hatását keresve a beszivárgó csapadékvíz okozta ellenállás változásra sikerült példát találni. Folytatódott a tektonikai hatásra kialakult gyenge zónák elektromágneses kutatása. | Activity in the present field includes the development of the instrumentation of the Nagycenk Geophysical Observatory (geomagnetic measuring systems, ionosonde), moreover other instrumental and methodological developments, too. Observatory data are available in a database. Based on result of the Nagycenk and Tihany observatories and on data of permanent and temporal networks, long-term trends of different electromagnetic parameters were investigated. Thus geomagnetic activity was found secularly increasing, a decrease of the atmospheric electric potential gradient and a 11-year modulation of the winter/December attenuation of the geomagnetic pulsation activity were confirmed. Several possibilities (pulsations, whistlers, modelling) were used to improve knowledge about structure and parameters of the magnetosphere. Electromagnetic precursors of earthquakes were searched. A significant increase of understanding was obtained in connection with Schumann resonances and electromagnetic transients caused by lightening. It was shown that sea-coasts influence characteristically changes in ionospheric electron content. When looking for the effect of the global climate changes in the subsurface electric resistivity, an example was discovered for the decrease of the resistivity due to infiltrating water from precipitation. Electromagnetic exploration of tectonically conditioned weak zones was continued, too

Hungarian repeat station survey, 2010

The last Hungarian repeat station survey was completed between October 2010 and February 2011. Declination, inclination and the total field were observed using one-axial DMI fluxgate magnetometer mounted on Zeiss20A theodolite and GSM 19 Overhauser magnetometer. The magnetic elements of the sites were reduced to the epoch of 2010.5 on the basis of the continuous recordings of Tihany Geophysical Observatory. In stations located far from the reference observatory, the observations were carried out in the morning and afternoon in order to decrease the effect of the distant temporal correction. To further increase the accuracy, on-site dIdD variometer has also been installed near the Aggtelek station, in the Baradla cave, during the survey of the easternmost sites. The paper presents the technical details and the results of our last campaign. The improvement of the accuracy of the temporal reduction by the use of the local variometer is also reported

Observation of the Earth Liquid Core Resonance by Extensometers

We performed Earth tidal measurements by quartz tube extensometers of the same type at several observatories (Budapest, Pécs, Sopronbánfalva in Hungary and Vyhne in Slovakia). In this paper, the first attempts to reveal the effect of the Free Core Nutation (FCN) from strain measurements are described. The effect of the FCN on the P1, K1, W1 and U1 tidal waves were studied on the basis of tidal results obtained in four observatories. Effective- ness of the correction of tidal data for temperature, barometric pressure and ocean load was also investigated. The obtained K1/O1 ratios are close to the theoretical values with exception of the Pécs station. We found a discrepancy between the observed and theoretical P1/O1 values for all stations with exception of the Budapest station. It was found that the difference between the measured and theoretical W1/O1 and U1/O1 ratios was very large independently of correction of the strain data. These discrepancies need further investigations. According to our results, fluid core resonance effects can also be detected by our quartz tube extensometers but correction of strain data for local effects is necessary