Variability of the ocean‐induced magnetic field predicted at sea surface and at satellite altitudes

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variability of the magnetic field component induced by ocean circulation is investigated on the basis of a standard thin‐shell approximation of electro‐ and magneto‐static equations. Well‐known difficulties of numerical solution of the governing equations are resolved by reducing the problem to an equation for the electric field potential, Φ, as opposed to a more conventional approach focused on the vertical jump, ψ, of the magnetic field potential across a combined ocean/marine‐sediment‐layer spherical shell. The present formulation permits using more realistic input data on ocean currents and ultimately yields much greater (by at least an order of magnitude) values of the magnetic field at sea surface than predicted in earlier studies. Such large values are comparable to, and in some cases exceed, magnetic field variations caused by lithospheric and ionospheric sources on monthly to interannual timescales. At the 400‐km altitude (of CHAMP satellite), the field attains 6 nT. The model predictions show favorable comparisons with some in situ measurements as well as with Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite magnetometer data.