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Data Declination Indices Models
Geomagnetism FAQ

Geomagnetism Frequently Asked

Questions
I. General Questions
1. What is the Earth's magnetic field?

2. What is the Main Field?

3. What are the magnetic elements?

Illustration 4. Does the magnetic field change in different locations?

courtesy ofPatricia
Seed 5. What is a magnetic pole?

6. Where are the magnetic poles?

7. What is the magnetic equator?

8. How do I calculate the geomagnetic coordinates?

9. Has the Earth's magnetic field changed significantly in the last

several years?

10. Is Earth's magnetic field going to reverse?

11. How often does the magnetic field reverse?

12. Will a reversal of the magnetic field affect animal behavior?

13. What are some other uses of geomagnetic measurements?

II. Geomagnetic Model Questions

1. What are magnetic models and why do we need them?

2. How often are new models developed?

3. What is the actual model range if the decimal year range is

between 2015.0 and 2020.0?

 4. Where do I get the old WMM coefficients?

5. What is the difference between IGRF and WMM models?

6. There seem to be many models listed here, WMM, IGRF, EMM,

USHistoric, etc what are the differences between them?

7. Why do some of the geomagnetic models (e.g. WMM, IGRF) carry

a valid time range and some (e.g. EMAG, MF6, NGDC720) do

not?

8. Is it possible to calculate declination for dates before 1900

outside of the United States?

9. How accurate are the magnetic field models? What is the error of

the declination estimates on the online calculators and models?

10. Do your models include magnetic fields from power lines or other

manmade sources?

11. Is there a simple formula or lookup table to calculate the

declination or magnetic field?

12. Is there a MATLAB wrapper file for World Magnetic Model or

IGRF?

13. Does your agency still publish the hard copy magnetic declination

charts?

III. Compass Questions

1. Does the compass needle point toward the magnetic pole?

2. What happens to my compass at the magnetic pole?

3. What happens to my compass in the southern hemisphere?

4. How do I correct my compass bearing to true bearing?

5. What influences the magnetic field measured by my compass?

IV. Geomagnetic Calculator Questions

1. How is altitude defined in the geomagnetic calculators and

software? Is it above mean sea level or WGS84 ellipsoid?

2. What is decimal year and how do I convert the date to decimal

year?
 3. Does the latitude/longitude input require geodetic coordinates or

geocentric coordinates?

4. How do I access your calculators programmatically for my mobile

app?

5. Are there any limits to programmatic access on the calculators?

6. I do not use C, how do I calculate magnetic declination for my

application in a different programming language?

7. Do you have software for calculating the magnetic field or

declination at multiple points?

V. Legal Questions
1. May I include an image from your webpage in my publication?

2. Are the magnetic models or software copyrighted?

I. General Questions
1. What is the Earth's magnetic field?

The Earth acts like a large spherical magnet: it is surrounded by

a magnetic field that changes with time and location. The field is
generated by a dipole magnet (i.e., a straight magnet with a
north and south pole) located at the center of the Earth. The axis
of the dipole is offset from the axis of the Earth's rotation by
approximately 11 degrees. This means that the north and south
geographic poles and the north and south magnetic poles are not
located in the same place. At any point and time, the Earth's
magnetic field is characterized by a direction and intensity which
can be measured. Often the parameters measured are
themagnetic declination, D, the horizontal intensity, H, and the
vertical intensity, Z. From these elements, all other parameters
of the magnetic field can be calculated.

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2. What is the Main Field?

The geomagnetic field measured at any point on the Earth's

surface is a combination of several magnetic fields generated by
various sources. These fields are superimposed on and interact
with each other. More than 90% of the field measured is
 generated INTERNAL to the planet in the Earth's outer core. This
portion of the geomagnetic field is often referred to as the Main
Field. The Main Field varies slowly in time and can be described
by mathematical models such as the International Geomagnetic
Reference Field (IGRF) and World Magnetic Model (WMM). The
Earth's Main Field dominates over the interplanetary magnetic
field in the area called the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is
shaped somewhat like a comet in response to the dynamic
pressure of the solar wind. It is compressed on the side toward
the sun to about 10 Earth radii and is extended tail-like on the
side away from the sun to more than 100 Earth radii. The
magnetosphere deflects the flow of most solar wind particles
around the Earth, while the geomagnetic field lines guide charged
particle motion within the magnetosphere. The differential flow of
ions and electrons inside the magnetosphere and in
the ionosphere form current systems, which cause variations in
the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field. These EXTERNAL
currents in the ionized upper atmosphere and magnetosphere
vary on a much shorter time scale than the INTERNAL Main Field
and may create magnetic fields as large as 10% of the Main
Field.

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3. What are the magnetic elements?

To measure the Earth's magnetism in any place, we must

measure the direction and intensity of the field. The Earth's
magnetic field is described by seven parameters. These are
declination (D), inclination (I), horizontal intensity (H), the north
(X) and east (Y) components of the horizontal intensity, vertical
intensity (Z), and total intensity (F). The parameters describing
the direction of the magnetic field are declination (D) and
inclination (I). D and I are measured in units of degrees, positive
east for D and positive down for I. The intensity of the total field
(F) is described by the horizontal component (H), vertical
component (Z), and the north (X) and east (Y) components of
the horizontal intensity. These components may be measured in
units of gauss but are generally reported in nanoTesla (1nT *
100,000 = 1 gauss). The Earth's magnetic field intensity is
roughly between 25,000 - 65,000 nT (.25 - .65 gauss). Magnetic
declination is the angle between magnetic north and true north.
D is considered positive when the angle measured is east of true
north and negative when west. Magnetic inclination is the angle
 between the horizontal plane and the total field vector, measured
positive into Earth. In older literature, the term “magnetic
elements” often referred to D, I, and H.

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4. Does the magnetic field change in different

locations?

Yes, the magnetic field is different in different places. In fact, the

magnetic field changes with both location and time. It is so
irregular that it must be measured in many places to get a
satisfactory picture of its distribution. This is done using
satellites, and approximately 200 operating magnetic
observatories worldwide, as well as several more temporary
sites. However, there are some regular features of the magnetic
field. At the magnetic poles, a dip needle stands vertical (dip=90
degrees), the horizontal intensity is zero, and a compass does
not show direction (D is undefined). At the north magnetic pole,
the north end of the dip needle is down; at the south magnetic
pole, the north end is up. At the magnetic equator the dip or
inclination is zero. Unlike the Earth's geographic equator, the
magnetic equator is not fixed, but slowly changes.

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5. What is a magnetic pole?

The magnetic poles are defined as the area where dip (I) is
vertical. You can compute this area using magnetic field models,
such as the World Magnetic Model (WMM) and the International
Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF). You can also survey for the
magnetic pole, using instruments that measure the magnetic field
strength and direction. In practice, the geomagnetic field is not
exactly vertical at these poles, but is vertical on oval-shaped loci
traced on a daily basis, with considerable variation from one day
to another, and approximately centered on the dip pole positions.
Magnetic declination (D) is unreliable near the poles. More
information is available at wandering poles.

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6. Where are the magnetic poles?

The geomagnetic poles or geocentric dipole, can be computed

from the first three Gauss coefficients from a main field model,
such as the WMM or IGRF. Based on the WMM2015 coefficients
for 2015.0 the geomagnetic north pole is at 72.62°W longitude
and 80.37°N latitude, and the geomagnetic south pole is at
107.38°E longitude and 80.37°S latitude. The axis of the dipole is
currently inclined at 9.63° to the Earth's rotation axis. The same
dipole is the basis of the simple geomagnetic coordinate system.

The magnetic poles or dip pole are computed from all the Gauss
coefficients using an iterative method. Based on the current WMM
model, the 2015 location of the north magnetic pole is 86°N and
159°W and the south magnetic pole is 64°S and 137°E.

The task of locating the principal magnetic pole by instrument is

difficult for many reasons; the large area over which the dip or
inclination (I) is nearly 90 degrees, the pole areas are not fixed
points, but move tens to hundreds of kilometers because of daily
variations and magnetic storms, and finally, the polar areas are
relatively inaccessible to survey crews. Natural Resources Canada
(NRCan) tracked the North Magnetic Pole, which is slowly drifting
across the Canadian Arctic, by periodically carrying out magnetic
surveys to reestablish the Pole's location from 1948 to 1994. An
international collaboration, led by a French fundraising
association, Poly-Arctique, and involving NRCan, Institut de
Physique du Globe de Paris and Bureau de Recherche Geologique
et Miniere, added two locations of the North Magnetic Pole in
2001 and 2007. The most recent survey determined that the Pole
is moving approximately north-northwest at 55 km per year. For
more details visit our page on polar wandering.

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7. What is the magnetic equator?

The magnetic equator is where the dip or inclination (I) is zero.

There is no vertical (Z) component to the magnetic field. The
magnetic equator is not fixed, but slowly changes. North of the
magnetic equator, the north end of the dip needle dips below the
horizontal, I and Z are positive. South of the magnetic equator,
the south end dips below the horizontal, I and Z are measured
 negative. As you move away from the magnetic equator, I and Z
increase. This image shows the magnetic equator in green.

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8. How do I calculate the geomagnetic

coordinates?

There are many different definitions of geomagnetic coordinates.

The simplest is to take the location of the geomagnetic dipole
then do a coordinate transformation from coordinates centered
on the geographic pole to coordinates centered on the dipole.
Longitude 0 is defined as the imaginary line from the geographic
north pole to the geomagnetic north dipole. A software to
calculate geomagnetic coordinates from geographic coordinates is
available here.

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9. Has the Earth's magnetic field changed

significantly in the last several years?

The Earth's magnetic field is slowly changing and appears to have

been changing throughout its existence. When the tectonic plates
form along the oceanic ridges, the magnetic field that exists is
imprinted on the rock as they cool below about 700 Centigrade.
The slowly moving plates act as a kind of tape recorder leaving
information about the strength and direction of past magnetic
fields. By sampling these rocks and using radiometric dating
techniques it has been possible to reconstruct the history of the
Earth's magnetic field for the last 160 million years or so. Older
“paleomagnetic” data exists but the picture is less continuous. An
interlocking body of evidence, from many locations and times,
give paleomagnetists confidence that these data are revealing a
correct picture of the nature of the magnetic field and the Earth's
plate motions. In addition, if one “plays this tape backwards” the
continents, which ride on the tectonic plates, reassemble along
their edges with near perfect fits. These “reassembled
continents” have matching fossil floras and faunas. The picture
that emerges from the paleomagnetic record shows the Earth's
magnetic field strengthening, weakening and often changing
polarity (North and South magnetic poles reversing).
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10. Is Earth's magnetic field going to reverse?

While we now appear to be in a period of declining magnetic field

strength, we cannot state for certain if or when a magnetic
reversal will occur. Based on measurements of the Earth's
magnetic field taken since about 1850 some paleomagnetists
estimate that the dipole moment will decay in about 1,300 years.
However, the present dipole moment (a measure of how strong
the magnetic field is) is actually higher than it has been for most
of the last 50,000 years and the current decline could reverse at
any time. Even if Earth's magnetic field is beginning a reversal, it
would still take several thousand years to complete a reversal.
We expect Earth would still have a magnetic field during a
reversal, but it would be weaker than normal with multiple
magnetic poles. Radio communication would deteriorate,
navigation by magnetic compass would be difficult and migratory
animals might have problems.

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11. How often does the magnetic field reverse?

During the past 100 million years, the reversal rates vary
considerably. Consecutive reversals were spaced 5 thousand
years to 50 million years. The last time the magnetic field
reversed was about 750,000 - 780,000 years ago. While we now
appear to be in a period of declining magnetic field strength, we
cannot state for certain if or when a magnetic reversal will occur.
Based on measurements of the Earth's magnetic field taken since
about 1850 some paleomagnetists estimate that the dipole
moment will decay in about 1,300 years. However, the present
dipole moment (a measure of how strong the magnetic field is) is
actually higher than it has been for most of the last 50,000 years
and the current decline could reverse at any time.

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12. Will a reversal of the magnetic field affect

animal behavior?
 Many migratory animals use the geomagnetic field to orient
themselves. However, the mechanism underlying this ability of
animals remains unknown. Experiments show that migratory
birds can sense the declination and inclination of the local
geomagnetic field. Changing the polarity of the horizontal
magnetic field is known to affect the hanging position of bats.
Some migrating butterflies use the geomagnetic field for
direction. In the ocean, spiny lobsters, dolphins, and whales are
known to use geomagnetic field for directions. It is thus, possible
that a reversal of geomagnetic field affect the migratory behavior
of some animals. Since the chance of a reversal in the near
future (in the next few hundred years) is very low, no immediate
concern is required.

13. What are some other uses of geomagnetic

measurements?

Magnetic field measured on the surface of the Earth is a

composite of the main magnetic field generated in the Earth's
core and the crustal magnetic field dependent on the
magnetization and iron content of the subsurface materials.
Hence, magnetic exploration is a powerful tool to detect
subsurface magnetic features. Magnetic surveys are typically
carried out by ships or aircrafts, with magnetometers mounted
on a boom - an extension from the body of the craft. Though less
common, magnetic surveys are also carried out by foot. The
strength of the magnetic signal from rocks is typically less than
1% of the strength of the Earth's main magnetic field. However
with the use of a geomagnetic field model (e.g. the International
Geomagnetic Reference Field - IGRF ), these tiny signals can be
recovered from the measured data. Magnetic methods are used
in oil exploration to determine depth to the basement rock, in
mineral exploration to detect magnetic minerals or to locate a
dike (dikes are tabular or sheet-like bodies of magma that cut
through and across the layering of adjacent rocks), and in
archaeological surveys to detect buried artifacts, grave sites etc.
Magnetic surveys can also help locate ferrous objects (drums,
storage tanks, and in at least one well-publicized case a Cadillac
car, etc.) that are buried under ground.

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II. Geomagnetic Model Questions

1. What are magnetic models and why do we
need them?

Because the Earth's magnetic field is constantly changing, it is

impossible to accurately predict what the field will be at any point
in the very distant future. By constantly measuring the magnetic
field, we can observe how the field is changing over a period of
years. Using this information, it is possible to create a
mathematical representation of the Earth's main magnetic field
and how it is changing. Since the field changes the way it is
changing, new observations must continually be made and
models generated to accurately represent the magnetic field as it
is.

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2. How often are new models developed?

The 2015.0 - 2020.0 World Magnetic Model (WMM) developed by

the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and
the British Geological Survey, was made available in December
2014. A new one will be made available December 2019. A new
International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is adopted
every five years. The IGRF for 2015.0 through 2020.0 was
developed in the fall of 2014 by the International Association for
Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA). Models need to be revised
at least every five years because of the changing nature of the
magnetic field. Existing models forward predict the magnetic field
based on the rate of change in the several years preceding the
model generation. Since the rate of change itself is changing, to
continue to use models beyond 5 years introduces progressively
greater errors in the field parameters calculated.

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3. What is the actual model range if the decimal

year range is between 2015.0 and 2020.0?

1/1/2015 00:00:00 AM to 1/1/2020 00:00:00 AM (so the day

1/1/2020 is not included)
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4. Where do I get the old WMM coefficients?

Please note that these models are outdated and that we do not
recommend its use for any purposes other than software
evaluation. Write to us atgeomag.models@noaa.gov for old
coefficient files. For earlier than 2015.0, we recommend the use
of IGRF model (which are updated retrospectively with the newer
data sets). Technical reports for the older versions of WMM are
available
here https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/WMM_old_repor
ts.shtml.

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5. What is the difference between IGRF and

WMM models?

The World Magnetic Model (WMM) and the International

Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) are estimated from the most
recent data and are of comparable quality. The differences
between IGRF and WMM are within expected model inaccuracy.
The WMM is a predictive-only model and is valid for the current
epoch (2015.0 to 2020.0). The IGRF is retrospectively updated
and the latest update, IGRF-12 is valid for the years 1900.0 -
2020.0. While IGRF is produced by the voluntary research of the
scientific community under the banner of the International
Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA), the WMM is
produced by NCEI and the British Geological Survey (BGS) for
the US and UK defense agencies with guaranteed quality, user
support, and updates. For the U.S. Department of Defense, the
U.K. Ministry of Defence, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) , the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the standard is WMM.
For other users, choice between WMM and IGRF is arbitrary.

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6. There seem to be many models listed here,
WMM, IGRF, EMM, USHistoric, etc what are
the differences between them?

The models available on our website can be split into two broad
categories, predictive models designed to give magnetic field
values for future dates, and historic models designed to give
magnetic field values for past dates. Our predictive models are
the WMM, EMM, HDGM, and HDGM-RT. These differ in what they
predict; the WMM predicts only the main magnetic field
generated by the Earth's internal dynamo, while the EMM, HDGM
and HDGM-RT include contributions from the Earth's crust. The
HDGM also includes a basic model of the external field. The
HDGM-RT includes a real-time model of the Earth's external field.
They also differ in how often they are updated; the WMM and
EMM are updated once every five years, while the HDGM is
updated every year.

Historic models that we use are the IGRF, the gUFM, the
USHistoric model, as well as the IGRF+. The IGRF is the accepted
international scientific model of the Earth's field going back to the
year 1900. The gUFM is a research model created by Jackson,
Jonkers, and Walker (Jackson et al., 2000, Four centuries of
geomagnetic secular variation from historical records, Phil. Trans.
Roy. Soc. Lond. A, 358, 957- 90.); it goes back to 1590. The
IGRF+ is a combination of these models that uses an
interpolation from 1890 to 1900 to ensure a smooth transition.
Finally, the USHistoric is a model based on a polynomial
interpolation of early magnetic data in the continental United
States (This is different from all of our other models which use a
spherical harmonic expansion to model the magnetic field).

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7. Why do some of the geomagnetic models

(e.g. WMM, IGRF) carry a valid time range
and some (e.g. EMAG, MF6, NGDC720) do
not?

The crustal-fields-only models (MF7 and EMAG2 available at the

offsite url: http://geomag.colorado.edu/geomagnetic-and-
electric-field-models.html) do not carry "start" and "expiration"
 dates. This is because, the crustal field varies over geological
time scales (thousands of years). These models get updated as
new data arrives. Therefore, you should always use the latest
model as it contains the most data. The WMM and IGRF series of
models are core-field-only models and they do come with a start
and expiration dates. This is because the magnetic field from the
Earth's core changes (roughly by up to 200 nano-Tesla per year)
over time due to the liquid flow in the Earth's core.

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8. Is it possible to calculate declination for dates

before 1900 outside of the United States?

Update: Our calculators now support dates before 1900, the new
range for the IGRF+ is 1590-2020!
Since there were not many regular observations of the
geomagnetic field prior to the 20th century, it is difficult to make
a reliable geomagnetic field model for dates before 1900. Based
primarily on magnetic data from ship logs, the GUFM model
(Jackson et al., 2000, Four centuries of geomagnetic secular
variation from historical records, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. A,
358, 957- 90.) covers the period 1590 - 1990.

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9. How accurate are the magnetic field models?

What is the error of the declination estimates
on the online calculators and models?

Actual measurements of the geomagnetic field at any location on

the Earth can be substantially different from the model outputs.
These errors primarily arise from the ommision of numerous
magnetic signal sources while modelling. Contributions from
magnetized crustal rocks and man-made magnetic noise sources
(such as a buried iron pipe) are the major sources of error.
Additionally, magnetic signals from near-Earth space also
contribute to the total error.

In general, the present day field models such as the IGRF and
World Magnetic Model (WMM) are accurate to within 30 minutes
of arc for D and I and about 200 nanoTesla for the intensity
 elements. It is important to understand that local magnetic
anomalies exceeding 10 degrees of declination, although rare, do
exist. Local anomalies of 3 to 4 degrees also exist in relatively
limited spatial areas. One area in Minnesota has a mapped
anomalous area of 16 degrees east declination with anomalies a
few miles away of 12 degrees west!

The second type of error originates from errors in the data and
methods used for developing the magnetic models. These are
called errors of commission and are much smaller than the errors
of omission. At our website
- https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/limit.shtml, we
provide maps of the declination inaccuracy. Fig 1. shows the
inaccuracy at the start of the new model (WMM2015). Figure 2
shows the inaccuracy estimated for the year 2020.0 (5 year old
model). It shows that the error in declination (magnetic bearing
or heading will inherit the same inaccuracy) can near 1° near the
magnetic dip poles in 2015. However, the declination error is
different in different part of the Earth - but mostly less than 0.3°.
For more information see the WMM technical report (p 55) and
the IGRF "Health Warning".

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10. Do your models include magnetic fields from

power lines or other manmade sources?

No, stray magnetic fields from power lines or similar sources are
not included in the model. In general manmade structures are
too small to be seen with our models, which have resolutions of
at least 30 km.

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11. Is there a simple formula or lookup table to

calculate the declination or magnetic field?

There is no simple equation connecting latitude and longitude to

declination. Each time you access our online calculator, we run
the model in the background. The model consists of a C driver
program and set of model coefficients. In the geomagnetic
model, the information about the magnetic fields (varying with
time and location) is stored as a set of "spherical harmonic
 coefficients". The C program reads these coefficients and
compute the fields elements for any location on the earth -
declination one among them. The equations are given in the
accompanying WMM technical report. The program and
coefficients are available for download
at https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/soft.shtml.

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12. Is there a MATLAB wrapper file for World

Magnetic Model or IGRF?

No. We do not offer MATLAB gateway / wrapper files for our

models. MATLAB offers WMM as part of their aerospace toolbox
(function “wrldmagm” for WMM and function “igrf11magm” for
IGRF).

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13. Does your agency still publish the hard copy

magnetic declination charts?

We do not print paper copies of the declination charts anymore,

but the charts are available online in pdf form. While they are
designed to print in "poster size", 2'x3', they do scale down well
to page size.
See https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/ and click on the
map on the lower left.

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III. Compass Questions

1. Does the compass needle point toward the
magnetic pole?

No. The compass points in the directions of the horizontal

component of the magnetic field where the compass is located,
and not to any single point. Knowing the magnetic
declination (the angle between true north and the horizontal
trace of the magnetic field) for your location allows you to correct
your compass for the magnetic field in your area. A mile or two
away the magnetic declination may be considerably different,
 requiring a different correction. NCEI has an on-line magnetic
declination calculator where you can enter your location (or zip
code for the USA) and get the Declination value. Remember:
east declination is positive, west negative.

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2. What happens to my compass at the magnetic

pole?

A magnetic compass needle tries to align itself with the magnetic

field lines. However, at (and near) the magnetic poles, the fields
of force are vertically converging on the region (the inclination (I)
is near 90 degrees and the horizontal intensity (H) is weak). The
strength and direction tend to "tilt" the compass needle up or
down into the Earth. This causes the needle to "point" in the
direction where the compass is tilted regardless of the compass
direction, rendering the compass useless.

There are established zones around the north and south magnetic
poles where compass behavior is deemed to be “erratic” and
“unusable”. These zones are defined where H (the horizontal
intensity) is between 3000 nT - 6000 nT (erratic zone) and H is
less than 3000 nT (unusable zone). Experts in the field claim
that if you have a good compass and are careful, you can get
decent results through the “erratic” zone. However, when H is
small (H < 2000nT), the daily variation in D can easily be greater
than 10 degrees.

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3. What happens to my compass in the southern

hemisphere?

For a compass to work properly, the compass needle must be

free to rotate and align with the magnetic field. The difference
between compasses designed to work in the northern and
southern hemispheres is simply the location of the “balance”, a
weight placed on the needle to ensure it remains in a horizontal
plane and hence free to rotate. In the northern hemisphere, the
magnetic field dips down into the Earth so the compass needle
has a weight on the south end of the needle to keep the needle in
the horizontal plane. In the southern hemisphere, the weight
 needs to be on the north end of the needle. If you did not change
the weight, the needle would not rotate freely, and hence would
not work properly.

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4. How do I correct my compass bearing to true

bearing?

You can compute the true bearing from a magnetic bearing by

adding the magnetic declination to the magnetic bearing. This
works so long as you follow the convention of degrees west are
negative (i.e. a magnetic declination of 10-degrees west is -10
and bearing of 45-degrees west is -45). Some example case
illustrations are provided for an east magnetic declination and
a west magnetic declination.

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5. What influences the magnetic field measured

by my compass?

The Earth's magnetic field is actually a composite of several

magnetic fields generated by a variety of sources. These fields
are superimposed on each other and through inductive processes
interact with each other. The most important of these
geomagnetic sources are:

a. the Earth's conducting, fluid outer core (~90%)

b. magnetized rocks in Earth's crust
c. fields generated outside Earth by electric currents flowing in the
ionosphere and magnetosphere
d. electric currents flowing in the Earth's crust (usually induced by
varying external magnetic fields)
e. ocean current effects

These contributions all vary with time on scales ranging from

milliseconds (micropulsations) to millions of years (magnetic
reversals). More than 90% of the geomagnetic field is generated
by the Earth's outer core. It is this portion of the geomagnetic
field that is represented by magnetic field models, such as
theWMM or IGRF.
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IV. Geomagnetic Calculator Questions

1. How is altitude defined in the geomagnetic
calculators and software? Is it above mean
sea level or WGS84 ellipsoid?

The downloadable WMM software library provides functions to

convert height above mean sea level (AMSL) to height above
WGS84. Currently the online calculators use height or alitude
above WGS84 ellipsoid. However, for most practical applications
in geomagnetism, the difference between ellipsoidal height and
sea-level-height is insignificant. A map of the difference in F
between MSL and WGS 84 referencing is given
athttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/newsoft.shtml

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2. What is decimal year and how do I convert

the date to decimal year?

Decimal year is defined as year plus decimal fraction of year. This

is obtained: Decimal_Year = Year +
day_of_the_year/number_of_days_in_the_year. For example,
2015-Jul-03 has decimal representation as 2015.5. An Excel or
Google spreadsheet "Date" entry (example: 12/31/2017), may
be converted to decimal year using the function =YEAR(A1)+(A1-
DATE(YEAR(A1),1,1))/(DATE(YEAR(A1),12,31)-
DATE(YEAR(A1),1,0)) for a date value in A1.

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3. Does the latitude/longitude input require

geodetic coordinates or geocentric
coordinates?

Input should be given as geodetic coordinates

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4. How do I access your calculators
programmatically for my app?

Our calculators provide an easy way for you to get results in

HTML, XML, or CSV programmatically. To use the programmatic
interface, you just have to url-encode the form parameters into a
GET request including the result format you want. Every
calculator is provided with instructions on how to access it
programmatically. These instructions can be found by navigating
to the calculator page of your choice and clicking on the
"instructions" link in the upper righthand corner. Scroll the pop-
up window down to "Using the Programmatic Interface".

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5. Are there any limits to programmatic access

on the calculators?

A maximum of 50 connections/sec from all the users is allowed at

any time. If this is exceeded, the calculator stops taking requests
for 10 seconds. Bulk calculations should be requested serially and
not in parallel. If the requests start returning with errors then
your script should go to sleep for 5-10 minutes before trying the
next request.

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6. I do not use C, how do I calculate magnetic

declination for my application in a different
programming language?

There are two ways to accomplish this. 1) Use programmatic

access as described above 2) Port NCEI geomagnetic software to
your language of choice. Some developers share their successful
ports
here https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/thirdpartycontrib
utions.shtml.

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 7. Do you have software for calculating the
magnetic field or declination at multiple
points?

If the locations are on a regular grid, use our grid calculators

at https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/#igrfgrid.
Otherwise, use the "wmm_file" software. For this, go
to https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/soft.shtml and get
the "WMM2015_Windows.zip"(or linux) file.
usage: wmm_file f input_file output_file
or for help: wmm_file h
Look at the sample_coords.txt for an example on how to write
the xyz data.The output can then be imported to a spreadsheet
program.

Another option is our Google spreadsheet application. The WMM

Google spreadsheet allows user to calculate declination values for
multiple points. The user may upload a file with location, altitude
and date information to this spreadsheet. The user will need a
google account and a browser to use this application. You do not
have to install any extensions and the application works on both
the web and mobile version of Google Drive. The offisite URL
ishttp://geomag.colorado.edu/world-magnetic-model-2015-
google-spreadsheet-application.html

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V. Legal Questions
1. Are the magnetic models or software
copyrighted?

No. The WMM source code is in the public domain and not
licensed or under copyright. The information and software may
be used freely by the public. As required by 17 U.S.C. 403, third
parties producing copyrighted works consisting predominantly of
the material produced by U.S. government agencies must provide
notice with such work(s) identifying the U.S. Government
material incorporated and stating that such material is not
subject to copyright protection.

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 2. May I include an image from your webpage in
my publication?

The images and maps created and posted online by NCEI are free
to be used. You do not require our permission to do so. Though
not required, we would appreciate you giving credit to NCEI for
its products.

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NOAA > NESDIS > NCEI (formerly NGDC) > Geomagnetism Questions: geomag.models@noaa.gov

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