The HMO has a research staff with specialisation in areas of geomagnetism, atmospheric physics, ionospheric physics, magnetospheric physics and space plasmas. The research topics we cover are varied and include studies on the variation of the earth’s geomagnetic field and its applications to navigation; the propagation of waves in the various regions of the space environment, their effects and diagnostic information on the propagation media; ionospheric characterisation; space weather in a basic and applied sense; space plasmas; and radio wave propagation. Our approaches are both experimental and theoretical. 

In collaboration with its national partners (NWU, UKZN, Rhodes, CDSM), the HMO owns and/or operates a wide suite of earth-space observational and monitoring instrumentation which include various types of:

• magnetometers,
• ionosondes,
• an HF radar,
• ionospheric scintillation and TEC monitors,
• neutron monitors,
• imaging riometer,
• broad-beam riometer,
• 2 low light auroral video cameras,
• GPS receivers,
• WWLLN lightning detectors,
• VLF receivers and a
• whistler detector. 

These instruments are located in various locations including South Africa, Namibia, Marion Island, Gough Island and the South African Antarctic base SANAE-IV. Through this geographically wide and multi-functional observational network, the HMO contributes earth and space data to various global networks including:

• the International Real-time Magnetic Observatory Network (INTERMAGNET),
• Digital Ionogram DataBase (DIDBase),
• Global Assimilative Ionospheric Model (GAIM),
• Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN),
• World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) and
• International Polar Year Data and Information Service (IPYDIS). 

This data is used for:

• research;
• the determination of key space weather parameters;
• and the simulation, modelling and forecasting of the earth-space environment.

In this regard, the HMO is also the Space Weather Regional Warning Centre (RWC) for Africa under the International Space Environment Service (ISES). ISES’s mission is to encourage and facilitate near-real-time international monitoring and the prediction of the space environment as well as to assist users to reduce the impact of space weather on activities of human interest.