Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Science Rendezvous > 2009 Posters
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Sixth Generation Lithospheric Magnetic Field Model, MF6 from CHAMP Satellite Magnetic Measurements

S. Maus¹,², F. Yin³, C. Manoj¹,², M. Rother³, J. Rauberg³, C. Stolle³, H. Luhr³, R. D. Muller⁴

¹Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, ²NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328, ³GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany, ⁴University of Sydney, Australia

Satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) provide the most effective means of mapping the long wavelengths of the magnetic field caused by the magnetization of the Earth's crust. The first global magnetic anomaly maps were produced from POGO (1960s) and Magsat (1979) satellite measurements. A breakthrough in resolution and accuracy was achieved with the CHAMP satellite, launched in July 2000. Apart from an order of magnitude improvement in magnetometer accuracy, CHAMP was designed to remain in LEO for many years, leading to excellent spatial coverage. The MF6 model (http://geomag.org/models/MF6.html) was produced from the latest three years of CHAMP measurements. MF6 resolves the crustal magnetic field to spherical harmonic degree 120, corresponding to length scales down to 333 km. MF6 is the first satellite-based magnetic model to resolve the direction of oceanic magnetic lineations, revealing the age structure of oceanic crust.