Paula Freitas is a municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.[2][3][4][5]

Paula Freitas
Municipality
Country Brazil
RegionSouthern
StateParaná
MesoregionSudeste Paranaense
Population
 (2020 [1])
 • Total5,908
Time zoneUTC−3 (BRT)

The Brazilian town of Paula Freitas is home to a Geomagnetism Research Laboratory, called Geophysics Research Campus Major Edsel de Freitas Coutinho, whose goal is to study the South Atlantic Geomagnetic Anomaly. The Paula Freitas municipality is close to the center of the largest and most important of Earth's Magnetic Anomalies, which has an influence on all ionosphere, extending from the Andes Cordillera to South Africa, encompassing almost all South America. The town of Paula Freitas lies under the area where the Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to the Earth's surface.

This leads to an increased flux of energetic particles in this region and exposes orbiting satellites and other spacecraft to higher than usual levels of radiation. The effect is caused by the non-concentricity of the Earth and its magnetic dipole.[citation needed]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ IBGE 2020
  2. ^ "Divisão Territorial do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Divisão Territorial do Brasil e Limites Territoriais, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). July 1, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  3. ^ "Estimativas da população para 1º de julho de 2009" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Estimativas de População, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). August 14, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  4. ^ "Ranking decrescente do IDH-M dos municípios do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Atlas do Desenvolvimento Humano, Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD). 2000. Archived from the original on October 3, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  5. ^ "Produto Interno Bruto dos Municípios 2002-2005" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2009.

26°12′S 50°57′W / 26.200°S 50.950°W / -26.200; -50.950