11/22/2015

WanderingoftheGeomagneticPoles

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WanderingoftheGeomagneticpoles
Geomagneticpoles
Magneticpolesaredefinedindifferentways.TheyarecommonlyunderstoodaspositionsontheEarth's
surfacewherethegeomagneticfieldisvertical(i.e.,perpendicular)totheellipsoid.Thesenorthandsouth
positions,calleddippoles,donotneedtobe(andarenotcurrently)antipodal.Inprinciplethedippoles
canbefoundbyconductingamagneticsurveytodeterminewherethefieldisvertical.Otherdefinitionsof
geomagneticpolesdependonthewaythepolesarecomputedfromageomagneticmodel.Inpracticethe
geomagneticfieldisverticalonovalshapedlocitracedonadailybasis,withconsiderablevariationfrom
onedaytothenext.

Experimentalobservationsofdippoles
Ithasbeenlongunderstoodthatdippolesmigrateovertime.In1831,JamesClarkRosslocatedthe
northdippolepositioninnorthernCanada.NaturalResourcesCanada(NRCan)trackedtheNorth
MagneticPole,whichisslowlydriftingacrosstheCanadianArctic,byperiodicallycarryingoutmagnetic
surveystoreestablishthePole'slocationfrom1948to1994.Aninternationalcollaboration,ledbya
Frenchfundraisingassociation,PolyArctique,andinvolvingNRCan,InstitutdePhysiqueduGlobedeParis
andBureaudeRechercheGeologiqueetMiniere,addedtwolocationsoftheNorthMagneticPolein2001
and2007.ThemostrecentsurveydeterminedthatthePoleismovingapproximatelynorthnorthwestat
55kmperyear.
Awebbasedportalisavailabletoviewboththeexperimentalandmodeledpolelocationshere.

Observednorthdippolesduring18312007areyellowsquares.Modeledpolelocationsfrom1590to2020are
circlesprogressingfrombluetoyellow.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/GeomagneticPoles.shtml

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11/22/2015

WanderingoftheGeomagneticPoles

Observedsouthdippolesduring19032000areyellowsquares.Modeledpolelocationsfrom1590to2020are
circlesprogressingfrombluetoyellow.

Modelderivedgeomagneticpoles
Geomagneticfieldmodelscanalsodefinegeomagneticpoles.Thegeomagneticpoles,orgeocentric
dipole,canbecomputedfromthefirstthreeGausscoefficientsfromamainfieldmodel,suchastheWorld
MagneticModel(WMM)orInternationalGeomagneticReferenceField(IGRF).TheWMMrepresentationof
thefieldincludesamagneticdipoleatthecenteroftheEarth.Thisdipoledefinesanaxisthatintersects
theEarth'ssurfaceattwoantipodalpointscalledgeomagneticpoles.BasedontheWMM2015coefficients
for2015.0thegeomagneticnorthpoleisat72.62Wlongitudeand80.31Nlatitude,andthe
geomagneticsouthpoleisat107.38Elongitudeand80.31Slatitude.Theaxisofthedipoleiscurrently
inclinedat9.69totheEarth'srotationaxis.Thesamedipoleisthebasisforthesimplegeomagnetic
coordinatesystemofgeomagneticlatitudeandlongitude.Scientists,mapmakersandpolarexplorershave
aninterestinthelocationsofthedipandgeomagneticpoles.Althoughgeomagneticpolepositionscannot
beobserved,theyarearguablyofgreatersignificancethanthedippolesbecausetheauroralovals
(approximate5latitudebandswherethespectacularauroraislikelyvisible)arecloselycenteredonthe
geomagneticpoles.Theyareusuallydisplacedslightlytothenightsideofthegeomagneticpolesand
greatlyvaryinsize:bandsofgreatestactivityoccurbetween15and25fromthegeomagneticpoles.
Asoftwareforcomputingthelocationsofgeomagneticpoleisavailablehere.

Movementofmagneticpolesfrom1590to2020
ThemagneticpolesordippolearecomputedfromalltheGausscoefficientsusinganiterativemethod.
Magneticpolesderivedinthisfashionaregeographicallyclosertotheexperimentallyobservedpoles.
BasedonthecurrentWMMmodel,the2015locationofthenorthmagneticpoleis86.27Nand
159.18Wandthesouthmagneticpoleis64.26Sand136.59E.
Thelocationsofthepoles(15902020)areavailablefordownloadhere:NorthPole,SouthPole.

NOAA>NESDIS>NCEI(formerlyNGDC)>Geomagnetism

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