Abstract
Abstract. Measurement of the geomagnetic field in Indonesia is undertaken by the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG). Routine activities at each observatory include the determination of declination, inclination, and total field using absolute and variation measurements. The oldest observatory is Tangerang (TNG), started in 1957, followed by Tuntungan (TUN) in 1980, Tondano (TND) in 1990, Pelabuhan Ratu (PLR) and Kupang (KPG) in 2000, and Jayapura (JAY) in 2012. One of the main obligations of a geomagnetic observatory is to produce final versions of data, released as definitive data, for each year and make them widely available both for scientific and non-scientific purposes, for example to the World Data Centre of Geomagnetism (WDC-G). Unfortunately, some Indonesian geomagnetic observatories do not share their data with the WDC-G and often have difficulty in producing definitive data. In addition, some more basic problems still exist, such as low-quality data due to anthropogenic or instrumental noise, a lack of data-processing knowledge, and limited observer training. In this study, we report on the production of definitive data from Indonesian observatories, and some recommendations are provided about how to improve the data quality. These methods and approaches are applicable to other institutes seeking to enhance their data quality and scientific utility, for example in main field modelling or space weather monitoring. The definitive data from the years 2010 to 2018 are now available in the WDC-G.
Highlights
A geomagnetic observatory is a permanent site or installation at which the geomagnetic field vector and strength is continuously recorded as a function of time at the Earth’s surface
Note that the Jayapura (JAY) and Tangerang (TNG) observatories have not been included in the results as their data quality was not good enough to be added to the World Data Centre of Geomagnetism (WDC-G)
We introduced a userfriendly software, namely GDASview, developed by the British Geological Survey, to help automate data processing at Indonesian observatories
Summary
A geomagnetic observatory is a permanent site or installation at which the geomagnetic field vector and strength is continuously recorded as a function of time at the Earth’s surface. There is a lack of Indonesian observatory data in the WDC-G, which means geomagnetic data in this region cannot be fully utilised This is unfortunate as the equatorial regions display magnetic field features, such as the Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) (Sugiura and Cain, 1966), and currently exhibit rapid secular variation and acceleration (Kloss and Finlay, 2019). For these reasons, we have made considerable efforts to create definitive data from Indonesian observatories and store them in the WDC-G data portal. We offer it as a template for other institutes wishing to identify issues and improve the quality of data from their observatory network
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