GEOPHYSICAL EFFECTS STUDY (REDACTED VERSION)

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02574264
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 53
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: September 25, 2017
• Case Number: F-2015-01649
• Publication Date: December 1, 1984

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Final Report December 1984
Covering the Period 15 November 1983 to 15 December 1984
GEOPHYSICAL EFFECTS STUDY (U)
SRI Project 6600
Copy
This document consists of 58 pages.
3
International
333 Ravenswood Avenue � Menlo Park, California 94025 � U.S.A.
(415) Ona cnnn . COI !KIT! N)113k" � Tvvx� 910-373-2046
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CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
I OBJECTIVE 1
II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
III INTRODUCTION 5
A. General 5
B. Report Organization 6
IV METHOD OF APPROACH 7
A. Literature Search 7
B. Data Acquisition 7
1. ELF Measurements 7
a. Introduction 7
b. Los Altos Site (TRI) 8
c. SRI Site 10
2.
Satellite Downlink Geophysical Data-Acquisition
System
11
3.
Data-Acquisition System
13
4.
Magnetic Data Tapes from NOAA
14
C.
Data Analysis
15
I.
Integrated Data-Analysis System
15
2.
Summary of Data Analyzed
16
3.
Summary of Data Unanalyzed
17
D.
Analysis Techniques and Data Preparation
18
1.
Techniques Used
18
2.
Description of Techniques
19
a. Epoch Analysis
19
b. Time-Lag Regression
20
3.
Description of Analysis Methods
20
a. RV Data
20
b. Geophysical Data
21
iii
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V RESULTS 23
A. Results of Geophysical Analysis 23
1. Introduction 23
2. Solar Flux 23
3. Sunspot Number 24
4. Solar Flares 25
5. Magnetic Indices 28
6. SIDs 30
B. Results Pertaining to ELF 31
1. Introduction 31
2. Intercomparison of ELF System 32
3. ELF/RV Comparison 32
VI EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 35
VII SUMMARY 37
REFERENCES 41
BIBLIOGRAPHY 43
iv
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1 ELF Data-Acquisition System 9
2 Real-Time Geophysical Data Acquisition via Westar IV
Downlink 12
3 Real-Time Geophysical Data-Acquisition System 14
4 Geophysical/Performance Data-Analysis System 15
TABLES
1 Geophysical Data Bases
2 Description of RV Data
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I OBJECTIVE (U)
The objective of this effort is to investigate the
possible effects of ambient geophysical/extremely low-frequency electro-
*
magnetic factors on remote viewing (RV) performance
Iwo
mw (U) RV (remote viewing) is the acquisition and description, by mental
means, of information blocked from ordinary perception by distance or
shielding.
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II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (U)
,4 SRI International was taskedl
ibto investigate a potential correlation between remote viewing (RV)
performance and ambient geophysical/extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic
(ELF) activity. The possibility of such correlation is indicated, for
example, by studies showing psychophysiological effects' and behavioral
changes' associated with ELF electromagnetic fields. The geophysical
variables of interest include such factors as ELF intensity/fluctuations,
ionospheric conditions, geomagnetic indices, sunspot number, and solar-
flare characE.eristics. The questions addressed in this program are
� Do geophysical/performance correlations exist such that
measurement of the ambient geophysical variables could
be used as an indicator of expected performance?
� If so, can optimum performance windows be identified?
(U) The structure of the program to investigate the above issues
consists of
� A literature search
� Real-time ELF measurements
SRI International (Menlo Park, California location)
Time Research Institute (Los Altos, California
field station).
Real-time geophysical data acquisition via the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Westar IV
satellite downlink.
Computer correlation studies of RV performance versus
variables of interest.
(U) In this report, we present findings from our over-six-year
analysis of scored RV sessions--as they relate to geophysical environmental
(U) References are listed at the end of this report.
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Table 1
(U) GEOPHYSICAL DATA BASES
� Solar terrestrial
- Geomagnetic--ground-measured indices A, sum of K, C , C9
P P
- Solar flux (MHz): 15,400, 8,800, 4,995, 2,800, 2,695, 1,415, 606,
410, 245
- Sunspot number
- Solar flares
� Ionospheric measurements
- Sudden ionospheric disturbances (SID)
- Sudden enhancements of signal strength (SES)
� ULF/ELF
- 19 frequencies (from 1 to 30 Hz)
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B. (U) Report Organization
(U) The remainder of this report is organized to include: Method of
Approach (Section IV), Results (V), Evaluation and Recommendations
(vi),
and Summary (VII). The Method of Approach section contains descriptions
of the project tasks, which include Time Research Institute's data acqui-
sition systems, other sources of geophysical data acquisition, lists of
geophysical data that have been analyzed, and the analysis technique
employed. The Results section contains the findings from the comparisons
of both the ELF data sets among themselves, and the comparisons of RV
performance data with the ELF and other geophysical data. The Evaluation
and Recommendations section summarizes the findings and possible applica-
tions of our research, and identifies areas where further investigation is
needed. The Summary section summarizes the overall effort and its impli-
cations with regard to RV performance enhancement and countermeasures
development.
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III INTRODUCTION (U)
A. (U) General
(U) In order to accomplish the goals listed in the Executive Summary,
this program was designed to be a joint effort between SRI International
and Time Research Institute (TRI) of Los Altos, California, with SRI as the
prime contractor. Time Research Institute is a research organization that
specializes in temporal analysis of geophysical variables and their potential
correlation with phenomena of interest, such as weather patterns, earth-
quakes, and the like.
(U) Time Research Institute was responsible for establishing the
appropriate hardware and software systems for collecting and analyzing data
on environmental conditions and their correlation with RV performance. The
purpose of the correlation study was to determine whether RV performance
is enhanced or degraded by measurable changes occurring in the geophysical
(including solar-terrestrial) environments. The specific geophysical data
bases examined in this effort are given in Table 1.
(U) Should correlations between geophysical variables and RV per-
formance be rigorously established over time, the application potential
of the effort is twofold:
� Time periods in which enhanced RV performance might be
expected could be identified, resulting in increased
quality and accuracy of information obtained through
such channels; similarly, time periods in which degraded
RV performance might be expected could be avoided.
Thus, optimum performance windows would be identified.
An increased understanding of the types of environmental
changes that correlate with RV performance could provide
clues as to the mechanisms involved in RV functioning.
Such knowledge would lead to a more focussed research
on factors that could enhance RV performance, and would
also provide information critical to the development of
defensive countermeasures against RV.
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IV METHOD OF APPROACH (U)
A. (U) Literature Search
(U) A literature search into the areas of known effects of static
and low-frequency magnetic and electric fields on biological processes
was carried out. Much of the literature available in the ELF range dealt
with the effects (or lack thereof) of 60-Hz fields. Papers were sought
that described both the gross effects of these fields and the mechanisms
by which they could affect biological organisms. Some reports describing
higher electromagnetic frequencies (e.g., microwave) were also included
for their inferential value. (A bibliography appears as an appendix to
this report.)
B. (U) Data Acquisition
1. (U) ELF Measurements
a (U) Introduction
(U) Although the ELF range (3 to 300 Hz) has been studied
in some detail, many unknowns remain. Although it is known that extremely-
low frequencies generated by geophysical means (e.g., electrical-storm
activity) tend to distribute themselves globally, little information is
available on the variation of the ELF environment from location to loca-
tion. Therefore, local variations may exist that are caused by both man-
made sources, and by the geological structure of the area. In the
San Francisco Bay Area, man-made sources that generate ELF on a local
scale include motors, telephone lines, power lines, and electrical subways
[Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)]; it needed to be determined whether the
emission from such sources constitutes a significant contribution to the
omnipresent global ELF field.
(U) In order to address the above issue, two ELF monitoring
stations were set up--one at SRI Menlo Park (the RV laboratory), the other
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(U)
at the TRI field station, 17 km distant. It was anticipated that the SRI
environment might be an electrically "noisy" one due to the large amount
of electrical and electronics activity in the area--a hypothesis that was
verified. With the requirement that two ELF monitoring sites be implemented
for the program, it was decided that the two systems would be made identical.
In this way, differences between the systems would be minimized, thus
reducing the opportunity for artifactual differences between the outputs.
Los Altos Site (TRI)
(U) Since May 1982, TRI has been operating a prototype ELF
monitoring site in Los Altos, where data have been collected twice daily
for the purpose of correlating ELF disturbances against various phenomena
of interest. In this period, analysis techniques were developed that were
directly applicable to the present task.
(U) One of the first tasks was the upgrading of the Los
Altos ELF monitoring site to provide coverage during power interrupts.
Details of this effort can be found in an interim report prepared by SRI
International.'
(U) The second task was the development of an upgraded high-
data-rate ELF system (in duplicate) to be installed at the TRI and the SRI
sites. Figure 1 is a block diagram of the basic upgraded ELF data-rate
ELF system (in duplicate) to be installed at the TRI and the SRI sites.
Figure 1 is a block diagram of the basic upgraded ELF data-acquisition
system. The ELF signal is collected by an antenna, amplified, and then
digitized by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter so that the signal can
be input into a computer for the purpose of analysis.
(U) The antenna is a "bioantenna" (a Live Oak tree). This
procedure was based on one recommended by the Radioscience Laboratory at
Stanford University. The detected signal is the voltage measured across
a pair of electrodes implanted vertically approximately six feet apart
along the lower tree trunk. A full description of the method is given in
Reference 6, a reprint of which is included in the interim report mentioned
above.
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ELF
INPUT
DATA
A-TO-D
CONVERTER
COMPUTER:
IBM PC JR.
FFT
HALF-
HOURLY
DATA
INCREASES SIGNAL STRENGTH
MAKES SIGNAL READABLE BY
COMPUTER
DETERMINES INTENSITY OF SIGNAL
FREQUENCY COMPONENTS
FLOPPY DISKETTES TRANSPORTED
TO IBM XT COMPUTER
FIGURE 1 (U) ELF DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM
(U) The system is configured around an IBM PC jr. micro-
processor, which is not only cost-effective, but is compatible with an
IBM XT computer where much of the ELF analysis is done. Data transfer
and reduction is simple; floppy diskettes are transferable from one computer
to the other.
(U) Software has been developed for the IBM PC jr. that
reads input data from the A/D converter, performs a fast-Fourier transform
(FFT), then outputs seven data files of 19 frequencies each to a floppy
diskette. The system operates on universal time (UT), writing records of
the means and standard deviations of 19 frequencies in the 1-to-30-Hz
range--each half hour, half-UT day, UT day, and half Pacific-time day.
This system is far superior in speed and accuracy to the prototype system.
In the upgraded system, approximately 318 ELF samples are recorded each
half hour. By comparison, the prototype ELF system sampled and processed
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(U)
the ELF environment only 20 times in an equivalent period, for a total
of about 420 samples in an entire day.
(U) The overall system calibration is as follows. A com-
bined amplification of the signal is 1000X; the signal is amplified 10X
in a preamplifier located at the antenna, and 100X in a main amplifier.
This presents a maximum 5-V peak-to-peak signal at the A/D converter.
The A/D converter operates on an input voltage in the range of 0 to 5.12 V.
The output digital value is in the range of 0 to 256. Thus, each count
on the digital output represents 20 mV at the input. The FFT algorithm
converts the digital sample inputs into coefficients that are proportional
to this input. A value of 100 counts at the frequency 1.6 Hz, for example,
would be interpreted as indicating that the 1.6-Hz component of the measured
signal has a voltage amplitude of 2 V at input to the A/D converter. The
input signal having been amplified 1000X, this represents a 2-mV component
at the antenna input.
(U) Further details concerning measurement and calibration,
including special requirements in amplifier design, isolation circuit
diagrams, and so forth, are available in the TRI subcontractor final
report to SRI International.'
(U) The first new ELF data acquisition began five months
after the start of the TRI subcontract with SRI International. TRI was
able to initiate the first generation of the upgraded system in only five
months in spite of delays in ordering specialized components for the new
systems, and delays in the fabrication of the circuitry of the systems
themselves. Further delays were experienced in ordering additional
specialized components and in fabrication of a needed second-generation
preamplifier. Final data acquisition was begun seven months after initia-
tion of the subcontract.
(U) SRI Site
(U) The SRI ELF system was implemented after extensive
testing of the upgraded system at Los Altos. A second-generation
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(U)
preamplifier/amplifier was installed in August 1984. Some differences were
immediately seen between the SRI and the TRI Los Altos stations. The dc
output of the oak tree that was selected to be the ELF antenna at SRI was
twice the level of the oak at Los Altos. It is a larger tree, and its dc
potential with equivalent electrode spacing (300 mV) was twice that of the
Los Altos site. This caused the amplified dc measurement component to
exceed the limits of the A/D converter. Hence, no dc measurements are
presently being made at the SRI site.
(U) As expected, the SRI location was found to be in an
electrically-noisier area than the Los Altos station. The 60-Hz signal
from power lines (and the like) at SRI was strong enough to approach the
limits
signal
exceed
system
of the A/D converter when the amplification was adequate for ELF
detection. The system software has been designed to omit data that
the A/D converter limits, then record the fact. To date, the
has
exceeded.
operated successfully without
There was a concern, however,
losing data because limits were
that some large-amplitude ELF
anomalies could cause the limits of the amplifier and the A/D converter
to be exceeded, in which case data would be lost. A third-generation
preamplifier has been designed, which contains the attributes of previous
preamplifiers, but, a 60-Hz filter has been specially designed and added
to the circuitry. This enables greater amplification of the ELF components
of the signal without risk of exceeding the input limits to the A/D con-
verter. The third-generation preamplifier is presently being fabricated
and will be used in follow-on work.
2. (U) Satellite Downlink Geophysical Data-Acquisition System
(U) A near-real time satellite downlink system for solar-
terrestrial data has recently become available from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With this unit, it is possible
to provide immediate feedback and/or analysis in conjunction with RV
sessions. (Normally, there are long delays in procuring solar-terrestrial
data; without the downlink, delays of 10 days to 6 months are standard.)
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(u)
By means of software developed at TRI, the downlink system provides for
accumulation of a detailed data base directly on computer diskettes.
(U) A satellite controller and a disk antenna for the downlink
system were ordered and installed at the Los Altos site early in the
project. The downlink system is configured around an IBM PC jr. micro-
processor, as shown in Figure 2. Data transfer is accomplished by means
ANTENNA
[CONTROLLER
[ IBM PC JR.
DATA
DISKETTE
[ MM XT
COMPUTER
4
1 BURROUGHS 6925
COMPUTER
FIGURE 2 (U) REAL-TIME GEOPHYSICAL DATA
ACQUISTION VIA WESTAR IV
DOWNLINK
(U) The format of the NO AA downlink is oriented toward text transmission,
and is not well suited to data-base acquisition. Software for recording
the data is not provided by NOAA.
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LOS ALTOS STATION
WESTAR IV DOWNLINK
IBM PC JR. No. 1
DATA
DISKETTE
ELF DATA
IBM PC JR. No. 2
DATA
DISKETTE
IBM XT COMPUTER
SRI STATION
ELF DATA
IBM PC JR. No. 3
DATA
DISKETTE
A
V
BURROUGHS 6925 COMPUTER
FIGURE 3 (U) REAL-TIME GEOPHYSICAL DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM
(U)
Burroughs 6925 computer for use in that analysis requiring high-speed or
large memory capacity.
4. (U) Magnetic Data Tapes from NOAA
(U) In addition to the above data collection from ELF and down-
link systems, archived solar-geophysical data of interest were selected.
Two criteria in this selection were used: first, the theoretical likelihood
the data might correlate with RV performance, and second, its availability--
based on appearance in the regularly published NOAA bulletin "Solar-
Geophysical Data Prompt Reports." The data were ordered from the National
Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service at the National Geo-
physical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. Of 12 data sets requested,
only 7 could be supplied; several of the data sets, although published
in the "Solar-Geophysical Data Prompt Reports," were not available on
magnetic tape.
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(U)
similar to that of the ELF system; that is, by transport of floppy diskettes
from the downlink computer to the larger IBM XT analysis computer.
(U) The geophysical data downlink began data acquisition in the
third month of the TRI subcontract. The initial data were in the form
of a direct recording, which was received from the satellite, on to com-
puter diskettes. The intent was to acquire as long a data base as possible
by acquiring raw data at the same time we were developing the software to
reduce it. The kernel around which the software was written was a BASIC
program from NOAA. The original NOAA software supplied the text data
(received from the downlink) in the form of tabular summaries on a monitor.
This software did not have the capability to store or record data to any
medium. TRI made extensive modifications so that the numerical data could
be stored onto computer diskettes for inclusion into a data base. The
software is capable of averaging and storing about 20 geophysical variables
at multiples of five-min intervals (e.g., 10- or 25-min averages), which
were defined at the time the program was run. It writes six separate data
files to the diskette.
(U) Initially, the program was set to average and write the data
at five-min intervals. After a few months of operation, it was found
that the disk drive of the PC jr. tended to fail with such frequent operation.
The time-averaging span was changed to half-hourly intervals to save wear
on the disk drive. This is the same time increment used for the ELF data.
The two systems now operate in synchronization.
3. (U) Data-Acquisition System
(U) The three systems described above (the Los Altos and the
SRI ELF stations, and the Geophysical Data downlink), operate in concert,
forming the Geophysical Data-Acquisition System. Figure 3 shows the
system components and their relationship to one another. Three IBM PC jrs.
operate 24 hours a day collecting ELF and downlink solar-terrestrial data.
Data from these microcomputers are processed in the IBM XT to form con-
tinuous data bases. Copies of these data bases are sent to the
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C. (U) Data Analysis
1. (U) Integrated Data-Analysis System
(U) Statistical analyses are performed on the data bases
described above, preferably on the IBM XT for cost effectiveness. Figure
4 shows the Geophysical Data/Performance Analysis System. Data from all
direct geophysical sources are input into the IBM XT, where they are
preprocessed into continuous data bases stored on floppy diskettes. Some
data extractions are also performed at this time. The data bases and the
extracted data are read into the Burroughs 6925 computer. The data tapes
from NOAA are also read directly into the Burroughs computer. The NOAA
data files are long (16,000 records per year is common), and require the
high speed of the mainframe computer (and our existing software residing
there) to correct, process, and extract the geophysical data in usable
form. NOAA data were further processed to extract subsets of data of