THREE WAYS TO TREAT THE IGRF ON THE EARTH'S SURFACE,

Abstract

When an International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is adopted in the already agreed upon form based on geocentric coordinates, the problem will arise as to how to represent and use the IGRF on the Earth's surface. The most straightforward and accurate method is to synthesize the values of the field, using the correction factors for the spheroidal shape of the earth. However, some workers may wish to avoid these correction factors, and use the geodetic coordinates directly. There would be two ways to do this. The first is to just ignore the differences in latitude and radius and use the field as if the earth were a sphere of constant radius. The second would be to use 3 different derived sets of coefficients for X, Y, and Z, each of which would accurately give the field value of one element on the earth's surface, but which would not be correct for the others. These three methods are examined here, to find how accurate each is, and how much work is involved in each. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1968
Accession Number
AD0676967

Entities

People

  • Anne B. Kahle

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Coefficients
  • Grids
  • Grids (Coordinates)
  • Latitude
  • Magnetic Fields

Readers

  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design