Brief Description:
This is an analytical model of the Earth's magnetic field valid from the
dayside subsolar magnetosphere to beyond lunar orbit in the nightside
magnetotail. Only the quiet time magnetosphere is represented including the
contributions from magnetopause, tail, and ring currents. The internal (core)
field is represented by a fixed dipole. The field representation is given in
Cartesian GMS coordinates using sixth-order expansions of power series and
exponential terms. The 180 coefficients were determined by fitting to over 600
magnetometer measurements from OGO 3 and 5. Shortcomings of this model are the
restriction to quiet conditions and the fact that the direction of the main
dipole and the ring current is fixed (i.e., perpendicular to the Earth-Sun
direction).
Availability: On one magnetic tape (NSSDC ID #MG-23A). A more recent, unpublished version is available from the authors in computer form.
References:
W. P. Olson and K. A. Pfitzer, A Quantitative Model of the Magnetospheric
Magnetic Field, J. Geophys. Res. 79, 3739, 1974.
W. P. Olson (ed.), Quantitative Modeling of Magnetospheric Processes, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 1979.
Go to the Magnetospheric Models index Go to the Space Physics Models page
NASA Official: Dr. Robert McGuire, Head of the Space Physics Data Facility