- On 24 September 2026 the amplitude of the Schumann resonance is very high: 3.5 times the usual level.
- The frequency of the first Schumann mode on 24 September 2026 is 7.75 Hz; its long-term mean is 7.83 Hz.
- The Schumann resonance is excited by lightning: about 50 flashes every second around the world.
- What changes from day to day is mostly the amplitude; the base frequency moves by only a few tenths of a hertz.
- Readings come from the Space Observing System in Tomsk, which has measured the resonance continuously since 1997.
Schumann resonance chart, last 3 days
Amplitude of the first mode in half-hour steps. The dashed line is the usual level; the shaded band starts at twice that level.
Daily peaks, day by day
The highest half-hour of each day compared with the usual level.
| Day | Against usual | Level | Frequency, Hz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep | 3.5× | Very high | 7.75 |
| Wed 23 Sep | 1.3× | Quiet | 7.77 |
What is the Schumann resonance?
The Schumann resonance is a set of natural electromagnetic waves that circle the Earth in the space between the ground and the ionosphere. That space, about 60 to 100 km high, works like a resonant cavity: a wave that fits the Earth’s circumference exactly reinforces itself. The lowest such wave has a frequency of about 7.83 Hz.
The waves are kept going by lightning. Roughly 50 flashes happen every second, most of them over the tropics, and each one sends a pulse around the planet. The physicist Winfried Otto Schumann predicted the resonance in 1952; Balser and Wagner measured it in 1960.
Schumann resonance frequencies
The resonance has several modes. The first one is the strongest; the higher ones are weaker and wider.
| Mode | Typical frequency | Usual daily range |
|---|---|---|
| 1st (fundamental) | 7.83 Hz | 7.5 to 8.2 Hz |
| 2nd | 14.3 Hz | 13.5 to 14.8 Hz |
| 3rd | 20.8 Hz | 19.5 to 21.5 Hz |
| 4th | 27.3 Hz | 25.5 to 28 Hz |
| 5th | 33.8 Hz | 32 to 35 Hz |
How to read the numbers
How strong the signal is. It follows global thunderstorm activity and can double or triple within an hour. This is the number that changes.
Where the peak sits. It drifts by a few tenths of a hertz with the time of day and the state of the ionosphere, and always returns to about 7.83 Hz.
The median amplitude of the last 30 days at the same station. “2× usual” means twice that median.
Is the Schumann resonance rising?
No. The base frequency has stayed close to 7.83 Hz since it was first measured. Reports that it has “risen to 36 Hz” come from a misreading of the colour charts: the vertical axis of a spectrogram runs to 40 Hz, and a strong burst lights up the whole column.
A white column on the chart means a short burst of high amplitude across many frequencies. It does not mean that the resonance frequency has changed.
Why the amplitude changes
Amplitude follows thunderstorms. The three main lightning regions, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, reach their afternoon maximum at about 09, 15 and 20 UTC, so the signal has a daily rhythm.
Solar activity changes the ionosphere, the upper wall of the cavity. After strong solar flares and during geomagnetic storms the frequency and the sharpness of the resonance shift slightly. The measuring station’s own surroundings matter too: a local thunderstorm shows as a burst.
Can people feel the Schumann resonance?
The first mode lies in the same frequency range as the brain’s alpha and theta rhythms, which is why the question is asked so often. The signal itself is extremely weak: its magnetic part is about one picotesla, tens of millions of times weaker than the Earth’s steady field.
- Restless or lighter sleep on burst days
- Tiredness or a heavy head
- Feeling wired without a clear reason
- Nothing at all, which is the most common answer
Studies are few and small. Some found associations between the resonance and blood pressure or heart rate variability; none has shown a cause. Nothing here is medical advice.
What you can do on a restless day
Questions people ask
What is the Schumann resonance today?
The first line of this page gives today’s level, and the strip below it shows the amplitude against the usual level and the base frequency. Values are read from the Tomsk observatory every 30 minutes.
What does 7.83 Hz mean?
It is the long-term mean frequency of the first Schumann mode: the lowest frequency at which an electromagnetic wave fits once around the Earth inside the cavity between the ground and the ionosphere.
Is the Schumann resonance spiking today?
A spike is a short burst of amplitude. The chart on this page shows every half-hour of the last three days; a day counts as high when the peak reaches twice the usual level.
Has the Schumann resonance changed to 36 Hz or 40 Hz?
No. The base frequency stays close to 7.83 Hz. The number 36 or 40 comes from the frequency axis of the spectrogram, not from the resonance itself.
Does the Schumann resonance affect sleep or mood?
Some people report restless sleep or tiredness on days with strong bursts. Research is limited and has not shown a cause. The signal is far weaker than the magnetic fields of everyday appliances.
Are the Schumann resonance and a geomagnetic storm the same thing?
No. A geomagnetic storm is a disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field caused by the solar wind and is measured by the Kp index. The Schumann resonance is driven by lightning. A storm can change it slightly through the ionosphere.
Where do the readings come from?
From the Space Observing System of Tomsk State University, which publishes amplitude, frequency and a spectrogram for the first four modes. We read its charts every 30 minutes and keep our own archive.
Why is there sometimes no reading?
The station occasionally stops publishing for a few hours or a day. The page then shows the last reading with its time, and the wellbeing index counts the resonance as neutral.
- Space Observing System, Tomsk State University (sos70.ru): amplitude, frequency and spectrogram of the first four Schumann modes.
- Schumann W. O. Über die strahlungslosen Eigenschwingungen einer leitenden Kugel, die von einer Luftschicht und einer Ionosphärenhülle umgeben ist. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A, 1952.
- Balser M., Wagner C. A. Observations of Earth–ionosphere cavity resonances. Nature, 1960.
- Williams E. R. The Schumann resonance: a global tropical thermometer. Science, 1992.
- Nickolaenko A., Hayakawa M. Schumann Resonance for Tyros. Springer, 2014.
Amplitude and frequency are read from the observatory’s charts every 30 minutes and stored in half-hour steps. The observatory gives amplitude without units, so the page compares it with the usual level: the median of our last 30 days. If the amplitude chart cannot be read, values are estimated from the spectrogram and marked as estimates.