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Experts have raised the alarm about an anomaly detected in the South Atlantic related to forces that are totally unknown until now. The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is a place where the Earth's magnetic field regularly weakens.
It is located in South America and the South Atlantic Ocean. This phenomenon is of great interest to NASA and experts, and is a serious threat to space technology.
The anomaly detected in the South Atlantic, in detail
The anomaly detected in the South Atlantic Ocean originates from complex processes with the planet's outer core, as the movement of melting metals gives rise to the global magnetic field.
Similarly, there are two factors that can cause the magnetic intensity to be reduced: the inclination of the magnetic axis itself and the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province.
The weakness of this anomaly means that several energy-charged solar particles enter more easily near the surface of our planet, causing satellites and electronic equipment in orbit to be affected (temporary failures, data loss or irreparable damage).
The South Atlantic Anomaly is constantly changing, as it has recently been observed to be slowly moving northwestward, splitting in two for the past five years, which greatly complicates predictions of how the site might behave geomagnetically.
To deal with this, NASA mixes satellite data with simulations of the Earth's core (with models such as the IGRF to see how the magnetic field behaves and thus anticipate it). In this way, closely monitoring the South Atlantic Anomaly is vital to preserve the safety of technological devices that orbit our planet