Geomagnetic Observatory And Survey Practice

This issue is a collection of the papers read at the 'Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory and Survey Practice' held during the XIVth General Assembly of IUGG (the International Union of Geology and Geophysics) in Hamburg, August 1983, sponsored by Division V of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA). The papers represent a snapshot taken at a very important time in the history of Geomagnetism and of the sciences which depend on measurements of one kind or another of the Earth's magnetic field. Research science now demands a much greater amount of information to be prepared and immediately made available to the scientific user. Experimental measurements are now required to be reduced, selected and made ready as information which can be recorded as data on magnetic tape in the form required for direct incorporation into the analytical programmes whiCh individual researchers run on digital computers. Computing has reduced the lead time between when observations are made and when they are required by researchers. Many scientific programmes, particularly those related to Solar-terrestrial geophysics, need data to be analysed as near as possible to the time it is recorded. In Geomagnetism these pressures apply to field variations where satellite based geophysical experiments require high resolution of the fine structure of external disturbance fields, and also to field mapping on a global and local scale where the demand for increased accuracy calls for better absolute observations and more frequent surveys.

This volume provides comprehensive and authoritative coverage of all the main areas linked to geomagnetic field observation, from instrumentation to methodology, on ground or near-Earth. Efforts are also focused on a 21st century e-Science approach to open access to all geomagnetic data, but also to the data preservation, data discovery, data rescue, and capacity building. Finally, modeling magnetic fields with different internal origins, with their variation in space and time, is an attempt to draw together into one place the traditional work in producing models as IGRF or describing the magnetic anomalies.

This reference encompasses the fields of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism in a single volume. Both sciences have applications in navigation, in the search for minerals and hydrocarbons, in dating rock sequences, and in unraveling past geologic movements such as plate motions they have contributed to a better understanding of the Earth. The book describes in fine detail the current state of knowledge and provides an up-to-date synthesis of the most basic concepts. It is an indispensable working tool not only for geophysicists and geophysics students but also for geologists, physicists, atmospheric and environmental scientists, and engineers.