Rosgeo assisted to determine the new coordinates of the South magnetic pole by instrumentation method

St. Petersburg, June 8, 2020. - The round-the-world expedition of the Navy oceanographic research vessel "Admiral Vladimirskiy", dedicated to the 200-th anniversary of Antarctica discovery by Russian explorers Mikhail Lazarev and Faddey Bellingshausen was completed today in Kronstadt . During the expedition, which was started on December 3, 2019, the experts and equipment of Yuzhmorgeologiya (a subsidiary of RosGeo) helped the scientists in achievement of an important scientific and practical objective - determining the coordinates of the South Magnetic Pole.

For six months, during the Trans-Atlantic travel, in the Southern and Indian Oceans, the crew of the research vessel "Admiral Vladimirsky" conducted hydrographic and hydrometeorological-logical surveys, as well as unique studies of geophysical fields of the Earth using the modern equipment - fluxgate and proton marine magnetometers and a set of radio-tomographic measurements of ionospheric parameters.

In terms of significance the key scientific objective of the expedition task was the instrumental determination of coordinates of the South Magnetic Pole in the D'Urville Sea by the coast of Antarctica and its differences as compared to the position of the Magnetic Pole identified by international models of the Earth's magnetic field - IGRF (International geomagnetic reference field) and WMM (World Magnetic Model) .

To achieve this objective a combined geophysical group team worked within the crew of the “Admiral Vladimiresky”, the team included the experts from the Institute of Applied Geophysics named after Academician E. K. Fedorov Rosgidromet, Physical Faculty of Moscow State University n.a. M.V. Lomonosov, St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation n.a. N.V.Pushkov (IZMIRAN) and Yuzhmorgeologiya. The work was carried out under support of the Russian Geographical Society, Hydrometeorological Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and Hydrographic Service of the Navy.

To achieve the expedition objectives Yuzhmorgeologiya provided a set of marine proton magnetometers an an experienced operator, who supported the work performance. The availability of the company extensive experience and understanding of the specifics in performance of the magnetometer measurements in the near-polar regions has become an important factor in successful completion of the work for clarification of the positioning of the South Magnetic Pole of the Earth.

The collected data of geophysical measurements will undergo the desktop processing and comparative analysis in the Institute of Applied Geophysics of Roshydromet, where the final clarification of the position of the South Magnetic Pole of the Earth will be performed, along with computation of the characteristics of individual sections of the magnetic field of the World ocean and auroral ionospheric parameters. The results of the expedition will be published and presented in a report at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society, and will later be used in the interests of Roshydromet, RAS, RosGeo and other organizations.

Conducting by the Russian vessel of instrumental measurements of the position of the South Magnetic Pole in 20 years after the expedition of the Australian Geological Service is a significant contribution of the national science (supported by the Navy of Russia and the Russian Geographical Society) in the world collection of achievements that reflect the underlying geophysical processes occurring on the planet.