the 13th.17:00 Jun 13 2008
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Why all the controversy? Is it an unlucky number? you decide.
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.
Copyright © 2008 Tim Stouse
Last modified: May 25, 2008
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