The use of low altitude satellite data bases for modeling of core and crustal fields and the separation of external and internal fields

Abstract

The near-Earth geomagnetic field is a complex combination of fields from a variety of sources within and external to the Earth. These fields have a complex characterization in space and time such that if the field were known at all times and positions external to the Earth's surface it would be possible to separate the measured field into its component parts except for the low degree field from the crust and the high degree field from the core. In practice the measurements come far short of such a space-time characterization. Because of this it is useful to keep in mind several principles when working with these data. These principles are: (1) know the enemy, i.e., understand as much as possible about all the sources, (2) don't expect a boy to do a man's job, i.e., recognize the limitations of the data, (3) use some common sense, and, (4) recognize personal prejudice. Examples are given from published and unpublished results to illustrate how these principles have been, and ought to be, applied. At the same time, suggestions are made as to how future analyses might proceed. These examples are drawn first of all from the way the main field and near-Earth magnetospheric fields are modeled, then from analyses of residuals from such models resulting from ionospheric and crustal fields.