Current geomagnetic activity across New Zealand is shown below. The “Live H30 Index” slider shows the current average activity across New Zealand. Below this, more detailed graphs of activity across the last 3 days are shown. Activity across New Zealand can be viewed using the tabs. Observatories are ordered from southernmost (Awarua near Invercargill) to northernmost (Donnelly in Northland); read more about them here.
Live H30 index
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3-day Local H30-index
24-Hour Magnetic Field H (nT)
24-Hour Magnetic Field Rate of Change dH/dt (nT/min)
Near real-time magnetic field data are plotted above for six sites across New Zealand. During geomagnetic storms, large disturbances in the magnetic field occur, which are often occupied by the aurorae or the Southern Lights. These magnetic disturbances pose a threat to large infrastructure like power grids and pipelines, so the MANA network is used to monitor magnetic field conditions and mitigate possible threats.
The MANA magnetometer network is operated by the University of Otago Space Physics group, as part of the Solar Tsunamis project since 2022 and is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. If you intend to use the data or plots for scientific purposes, please acknowledge and contact us.
The Awarua magnetometer observatory is the Southernmost magnetometer hosted at the Awarua Space Centre located between Invercargill and Bluff in Southland. Being the closest to the auroral zones, the Awarua magnetometer observes the largest magnetic field variations across all mainland New Zealand.
Please note that data is currently noisy at this site due to electrical issues.
The Swampy magnetometer observatory is located at the University of Otago’s Radio Science Hut atop Swampy Summit, one of the three peaks overlooking Dunedin. The location of this site is quite far South, with magnetic fields disturbances here usually only slightly weaker than those at Awarua. The magnetometer also happens to predate the MANA network, with it first installed in 2017.
The Eyrewell Magnetic Observatory is located near Eyrewell Forest outside of Christchurch. The magnetometer is operated by GNS Science who provide the data to the MANA network. Eyrewell is the oldest running magnetometer in New Zealand, operating since 1978 and is the main magnetometer in New Zealand used to access threats related to geomagnetic storms.
The Quartz Range magnetometer observatory is located at the foot of the Quartz Range Mountains, in Golden Bay. The magnetometer is the newest in the network, replacing the previous Chatham Island magnetometer.
This magnetometer was installed on a farm in the King Country, Waikato in 2022 and serves as our main view of the magnetic fields spanning the Central North Island. This magnetometer is particularly useful for monitoring effects of space weather on the main gas transmission pipelines, due to its close proximity.
The Donnelly magnetometer is installed on a rural farm on the boundary between Tutamoe and the Mataraua Forest in Northland. The Northernmost of our magnetometers, the magnetic field disturbances here are by far the weakest, hence aurora are rarely visible. However, occasionally during the largest storms they can still become visible.
