A NASA (UnitedStates) scientist who served as the project scientist for the Magsat mission. Trained as an applied mathematician and physicist, Langel was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a strong advocate of high‐accuracy vector magnetic measurements from satellite. These measurements were used to demonstrate the break in the power spectra at about spherical harmonic degree 13 that represents the transition from core‐dominated processes to lithospheric‐dominated processes (Figure L1; Langel and Estes, 1982). Tantalizing suggestions of such a break had previously been reported from total field‐intensity measurements acquired on an around‐the‐world magnetic profile (Alldredge et al., 1963). Langel also made use of the high‐accuracy vector measurements, and magnetic‐observatory measurements, for the coestimation of internal (core and lithosphere), external (ionosphere and magnetosphere), and induced magnetic fields. These comprehensive models of the geomagnetic field were...
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Purucker, M.E. (2007). Langel, Robert A. (1937–2000). In: Gubbins, D., Herrero-Bervera, E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4423-6_163
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