Five French magnetic observatories in Austral territories and Antarctica (Amsterdam, Crozet, Concordia, Dumont d’Urville & Kerguelen)

The 5 permanent magnetic observatories (Amsterdam, Crozet, Dome C/Concordia, Dumont d’Urville and Kerguelen) are located in remote and isolated locations. They are therefore of great significance for the observation of the internal magnetic field but also for the study of phenomena generated by the solar wind at the surface of the globe (geoeffectivity).

These 5 observatories meet the highest international standards and norms thanks to the development of specific procedures and acquisition chains. The Earth’s magnetic field is recorded continuously with sampling rates of 1 second. Absolute manual measurements of the magnetic field components are also made daily throughout the year. Data processing and dissemination at the Central Terrestrial Magnetism Office (Bureau Central de Magnétisme Terrestre being a National Service of Observation formally labelled by CNRS-INSU) and at world geophysical data centres (WDC for geomagnetism – World Data Centers, INTERMAGNET) are carried on quasi-real-time thanks to the acquisition system integrating expedition protocols.

The continuity, quality, stability and homogeneity of these observations are of prime importance for their continuous use by the both Solid Earth and Astronomy-Astrophysics scientific communities.
Data from magnetic observatories are used directly and indirectly by a large number of applications in the industrial and military world (by satellite operators, by oil and mining industries, by portable navigation devices for first approximation location, by military radio-communication operators, etc.).

Our goals are to maintain or improve the quality of the data, to improve the robustness of the data recording and distribution procedures, and to increase their national and international utilisation.