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Norman W. Peddie

Publications and source records attributed to Norman W. Peddie.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Magnetic models for the United States for 1985

New models describing the magnetic field in the United States at the beginning of 1985 and the rate of change expected during the next few years have been developed. The models--which will serve as the basis for a new set of magnetic charts--were derived from several tens of thousands of original field measurements from land, marine, and aerial surveys; from values derived from the MAGSAT-based International Geomagnetic Reference Field; and from recent data from magnetic observatories and repeat stations. , They are in the form of spherical harmonic series that represent the scalar magnetic potential from which all the field components can be derived. The models for the conterminous States and Alaska are of maximum degree and order 4 (24 coefficients each) and the models for Hawaii are of maximum degree and order 2 (8 coefficients each).

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The magnetic charts of the United States for Epoch 1975

Approximately 24,000 measurements taken from 1900 to 1974 were analyzed by least-squares methods to produce a series of five magnetic charts of the United States for 1975. A feature of the analysis, differing from techniques used for previous editions of the national chart, is that analytic models define the regional magnetic field and are used to contour the magnetic charts. An overall rms (root mean square) fit of less than 235 nT was obtained for the horizontal and vertical intensities; for the chart of magnetic declination, the rms deviation was on the order of 0.5 degrees. The models of annual change, derived from data at repeat stations and observatories operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, yielded an rms deviation of approximately 6 nT/yr in the force components and 0.7 min/yr in magnetic declination.

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