NOAA/NGDC candidate models for the 11th generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field and the concurrent release of the 6th generation Pomme magnetic model

Abstract

The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is updated every five years based on candidate model submissions by research institutions worldwide. In the call for the 11th generation of IGRF, candidates were requested for the definitive main field in 2005, the predicted main field in 2010, and the predicted secular variation from 2010 to 2015. The NOAA/NGDC candidate models for IGRF-11 were produced from parent models parameterized in the same way as the 6th generation of our Pomme magnetic model. All models were based on CHAMP satellite measurements, while Ørsted satellite measurements were used for model validation. The internal field in Pomme-6 is described by a 2nd degree Taylor time series of spherical harmonic expansion coefficients of a scalar magnetic potential. Magnetic fields of ionospheric origin are avoided by careful data selection. Instead of co-estimating magnetospheric fields, we subtract a magnetospheric field model estimated previously from a more extensive data set covering all local times. From comparison with Ørsted measurements and general considerations of magnetic field predictability, we attribute a root mean square (RMS) uncertainty of 1.3 nT to our candidate model for the main field in 2005, 2.5 nT to the predicted main field in 2010 and 26 nT/a to the predicted secular variation from 2010 to 2015. Copyright © The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS).