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    South Atlantic Anomaly tagged posts

    Swarm reveals growing weakspot in Earth’s magnetic field

    October 15, 2025, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Using 11 years of magnetic field measurements from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite constellation, scientists have discovered that the weak region in Earth’s magnetic field over the South Atlantic—known as the South Atlantic Anomaly—has expanded by an area nearly half the size of continental Europe since 2014.

    Earth’s magnetic field is vital to life on our planet. It is a complex and dynamic force that protects us from cosmic radiation and charged particles from the sun.

    It is largely generated by a global ocean of molten, swirling liquid iron that makes up the outer core around 3000 km beneath our feet...

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    Researchers track slowly splitting ‘Dent’ in Earth’s Magnetic Field

    August 19, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield around the planet, repelling and trapping charged particles from the Sun. But over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unusually weak spot in the field – called the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAA – allows these particles to dip closer to the surface than normal. Currently, the SAA creates no visible impacts on daily life on the surface. However, recent observations and forecasts show that the region is expanding westward and continuing to weaken in intensity. The South Atlantic Anomaly is also of interest to NASA’s Earth scientists who monitor the changes in magnetic strength there, both for how such changes affect Earth’s atmosphere and as an indicator of what’s happening to Earth’s magnetic fields, deep inside the globe...
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