Abstract
WE outline here some of the implications of the latest in a series of models of the Earth' magnetic field derived in association with the World Magnetic Charts published by the British Hydrographic Office. The model, details of which are published elsewhere1, is defined by spherical harmonic coefficients representing the internal part of the magnetic field (to twelfth order and degree; 168 coefficients), its secular variation (to eighth order and degree; 80 coefficients), and its secular acceleration (the 26 most significant coefficients) at epoch 1975.0. Because of the greatly improved distribution, accuracy and quantity of data incorporated in the analysis, we believe that this model, particularly with regard to the secular variation, provides a significantly better representation of the Earth's magnetic field than any previous model. It is of interest to compare some of the parameters derived from this model with the trends shown by its predecessors.
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HARWOOD, J., MALIN, S. Present trends in the Earth's magnetic field. Nature 259, 469–471 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/259469a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/259469a0
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