This book addresses and reviews many of the still little understood questions related to the processes underlying planetary magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind. With focus on research carried out within the German Priority Program "PlanetMag", it also provides an overview of the most recent research in the field. Magnetic fields play an important role in making a planet habitable by protecting the environment from the solar wind. Without the geomagnetic field, for example, life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. And results from recent space missions to Mars and Venus strongly indicate that planetary magnetic fields play a vital role in preventing atmospheric erosion by the solar wind. However, very little is known about the underlying interaction between the solar wind and a planet's magnetic field. The book takes a synergistic interdisciplinary approach that combines newly developed tools for data acquisition and analysis, computer simulations of planetary interiors and dynamos, models of solar wind interaction, measurement of ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites, and laboratory investigations.

The German research satellite CHAMP had been launched in summer 2000. Its modern instruments and near Earth orbit allow for the first time to collect data of the gravitational and magnetic fields and in addition to sound out the atmosphere and ionosphere by using GPS techniques. The book is the result of the first meeting of the international CHAMP research groups gathering 18 months later at the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam. Besides technical information the volume offers a comprehensive overview over the use of CHAMP data for Earth System Research in the fields of Geodesy, Geophysics and Meteorology.

In the summer of 2000 the German geo-research satellite CHAMP was launched into orbit. Its innovative payload arrangement and the low initial orbit allow CHAMP to simultaneously collect and almost continuously analyse precise data relating to gravity and magnetic fields at low altitude. In addition, CHAMP also measures the neutral atmosphere and ionosphere using GPS techniques. Three years after launch, more than 200 CHAMP investigators and co-investigators from all over the world met at the GeoForschungsZentrum in Potsdam to present and discuss the results derived from the extensive data sets of the mission. The main outcome of this expert meeting is summarized in this volume. The book offers a comprehensive insight into the present status of the exploitation of CHAMP data for Earth system research and practical applications in geodesy, geophysics and meteorology.

This open access book provides a comprehensive toolbox of analysis techniques for ionospheric multi-satellite missions. The immediate need for this volume was motivated by the ongoing ESA Swarm satellite mission, but the tools that are described are general and can be used for any future ionospheric multi-satellite mission with comparable instrumentation. In addition to researching the immediate plasma environment and its coupling to other regions, such a mission aims to study the Earth's main magnetic field and its anomalies caused by core, mantle, or crustal sources. The parameters for carrying out this kind of work are examined in these chapters. Besides currents, electric fields, and plasma convection, these parameters include ionospheric conductance, Joule heating, neutral gas densities, and neutral winds.

In the summer of 2000 the German geo-research satellite CHAMP was launched into orbit. Its innovative payload arrangement and the low initial orbit allow CHAMP to simultaneously collect and almost continuously analyse precise data relating to gravity and magnetic fields at low altitude. In addition, CHAMP also measures the neutral atmosphere and ionosphere using GPS techniques. Three years after launch, more than 200 CHAMP investigators and co-investigators from all over the world met at the GeoForschungsZentrum in Potsdam to present and discuss the results derived from the extensive data sets of the mission. The main outcome of this expert meeting is summarized in this volume. The book offers a comprehensive insight into the present status of the exploitation of CHAMP data for Earth system research and practical applications in geodesy, geophysics and meteorology.

In 1995, the German Space Agency DARA selected the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) mission for development under a special support programme for the space industry in the new states of the unified Germany, with the Principal Investigator and his home institution GFZ Potsdam being ultimately responsible for the success of all mission phases. After three years of spacecraft manufactur ing and testing, the satellite was injected successfully into its final, near circular, almost polar and low altitude (450 km) orbit from the cosmodrome Plesetsk in Russia on July 15, 2000. After a nine month commissioning period during which all spacecraft systems and instruments were checked, calibrated and validated, the satellite has been delivering an almost uninterrupted flow of science data since May 2001. Since this date, all science data have been made available to the more than 150 selected co-investigator teams around the globe through an international Announcement of Opportunity. The scientific goals of the CHAMP mission are to gain a better understanding of dynamic processes taking place in the Earth's interior and in the space near Earth. These goals can be achieved by improved observation of the Earth's gravity and magnetic fields and their time variability with high-performance on-board instru mentation and by exploring the structure of the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere through radio occultation measurements.

This open access book provides a comprehensive toolbox of analysis techniques for ionospheric multi-satellite missions. The immediate need for this volume was motivated by the ongoing ESA Swarm satellite mission, but the tools that are described are general and can be used for any future ionospheric multi-satellite mission with comparable instrumentation. In addition to researching the immediate plasma environment and its coupling to other regions, such a mission aims to study the Earth's main magnetic field and its anomalies caused by core, mantle, or crustal sources. The parameters for carrying out this kind of work are examined in these chapters. Besides currents, electric fields, and plasma convection, these parameters include ionospheric conductance, Joule heating, neutral gas densities, and neutral winds.

This book addresses and reviews many of the still little understood questions related to the processes underlying planetary magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind. With focus on research carried out within the German Priority Program "PlanetMag", it also provides an overview of the most recent research in the field. Magnetic fields play an important role in making a planet habitable by protecting the environment from the solar wind. Without the geomagnetic field, for example, life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. And results from recent space missions to Mars and Venus strongly indicate that planetary magnetic fields play a vital role in preventing atmospheric erosion by the solar wind. However, very little is known about the underlying interaction between the solar wind and a planet's magnetic field. The book takes a synergistic interdisciplinary approach that combines newly developed tools for data acquisition and analysis, computer simulations of planetary interiors and dynamos, models of solar wind interaction, measurement of ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites, and laboratory investigations.

Dieser Roman handelt von unerklarlichen Funden, die absolut nicht in das herkommliche Bild der Archaologie und der Menschheitsentwicklung passen. Im Jahr 1947 offnet Knut Wagner beim Erzabbau im Harz eine Hohle, in der er sonderbare Wandbeschriftungen mit fremdartigen Symbolen und einer auslandischen Schrift sieht. Ausserdem findet er moderne Teile, die er uberhaupt nicht kennt oder zuordnen kann. 60 Jahre spater erbt sein kanadischer Neffe Robert Wagner unter anderem auch das Tagebuch von Knut Wagner und liest darin von den damaligen Funden. Er halt die beschriebenen Objekte fur Compact Disc und Handyuberreste und ist sofort fasziniert von den Aufzeichnungen seines Onkels? Woher stammen diese zeitlich unmoglichen Stucke? Etwa von Ausserirdischen oder einem Zeitreisenden? Robert Wagner hat die Zeit und die finanziellen Mittel, um die geheimnisvollen Entdeckungen seines Onkels aufzuklare

Dieser Roman gibt die faszinierende Antwort darauf: Die Spur fuhrt von einer geheimnisvollen Anlage im Harz und einer von dort mitgenommenen Kristallpyramide bis zu sensationellen Bildern aus dem Pyramidenzeitalter Agyptens. Im Harz, an der ehemaligen DDR-Grenze, entdeckt Henning Wolf im Auftrag seiner Behorde eine eigenartige metallische Anlage. Dabei nimmt er eine kleine Kristallpyramide von einem Zaunpfosten mit und stellt sie zu Hause auf seinen Fernseher. Dort empfangt er nach einiger Zeit durch eine technische Zufallsschaltung einen sonderbaren Film, der den Pyramidenbau von Gizeh mittels utopischer Flugmaschinen zeigt, und die fertige Pyramide hat auch so eine Kristallspitze wie aus dem Harz. Henning Wolf untersucht nun diesen mysteriosen Fall und kommt im Zuge seiner Nachforschungen schliesslich zu einer unglaublichen Erkenntnis. Der Roman wurde im Februar 2014 vom Autor uberarbeitet und etwas erweitert, weil er auch als E-Book erscheinen soll