Abstract
Measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field collected by low-Earth-orbit satellites such as Swarm and CHAMP, as well as at ground observatories, are dominated by sources in the Earth’s interior. However these measurements also contain significant contributions from more rapidly-varying current systems in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. In order to fully exploit magnetic data to probe the physical properties and dynamics of the Earth’s interior, field models with suitable treatments of external sources, and their associated induced signals, are essential. Here we review the methods presently used to construct models of the internal field, focusing on techniques to handle magnetospheric and ionospheric signals. Shortcomings of these techniques often limit the quality, as well as spatial and temporal resolution, of internal field models. We document difficulties in using track-by-track analysis to characterize magnetospheric field fluctuations, differences in internal field models that result from alternative treatments of the quiet-time ionospheric field, and challenges associated with rapidly changing, but spatially correlated, magnetic signatures of polar cap current systems. Possible strategies for improving internal field models are discussed, many of which are described in more detail elsewhere in this volume.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the International Space Science Institute for inviting them to take part in the workshop on “Earth’s Magnetic Field” held in Bern in May 2015. CCF thanks Eigil Friis-Christensen and Karl-Magnus Laundal for helpful discussions. The results presented in this paper rely on data collected at magnetic observatories. We thank the national institutes that support them and INTERMAGNET for promoting high standards of magnetic observatory practice (www.intermagnet.org). The support of the CHAMP mission by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is gratefully acknowledged. Swarm L1b data were provided by ESA. We also wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments.
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Finlay, C.C., Lesur, V., Thébault, E. et al. Challenges Handling Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Signals in Internal Geomagnetic Field Modelling. Space Sci Rev 206, 157–189 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-016-0285-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-016-0285-9