The Geomagnetic Field

The geomagnetic eld is a vector eld, which can be described on the Earths surface by
its three orthogonal components or magnetic elements X (pointing in the geographic
north direction), Y (pointing eastward), and Z (pointing downward). The two horizontal
components X and Y can be combined, yielding the horizontal component H with H
=vX2+Y2, which is aligned in the direction of the compass needle. By also adding the
vertical component Z, the intensity of the total eld F is
obtained as F =vX2+Y2+Z2. The declination D is dened as the angle between H and
geographic north and the inclination is the angle between the horizontal plane and the
eld vector F. For further illustration see Fig. 1.2. The magnetic eld strength is
nowadays measured in the unit Tesla (T), with 1T = 1 Vs/m .In geomagnetism subunits like
10-6 T = 1 T or 10-9 T = 1 nT are more convenient,because the strength of the
geomagnetic eld in mid latitudes is about 50T or 50,000 nT. Other units which have
been used in the literature in the past are Gauss(g1/2cm-1/2s-1) and gamma with 10-5
Gauss = 1 . The relationships between the units are as follows: 1 Gauss = 10 -4T and 1
nT is 1.

Fig. 1.2 Geomagnetic coordinate system showing the three orthogonal components X, Y,andZ, the horizontal
component H
and the total eld F as well as the declination D and the inclination

Glameier, Karl-Heinz, Heinrich Soffel, Jrg F.W. Negendank.2009. Geomagnetic Field

Variations. Springer.Verlag Berlin Heidelberg