Processing of satellite magnetometer data

Abstract

The magnetic field observed at distances ranging from 350 to 500 km above the earth is a combination of fields due to several different sources. Electrical currents flowing in the outer core of the earth cause the main magnetic field of the earth, which varies in amplitude from 30 000 to 50 000 nT. The main field has time variations of the order of hundreds to thousands of years and spatial variations of the order of hundreds to thousands of km.