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THE NATIONAL GEOMAGNETIC INITIATIVE
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this study was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Geological Survey.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 93-85739
International Standard Book Number 0-309-04977-6
Copies of this report are available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418
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B-201
Cover art by Shelley Myers, Project Assistant for the U.S. Geodynamics Committee, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, National Research Council. Myers' work is exhibited widely in the Washington, D.C. area and has won several area awards. The cover depicts the magnetic field of the Earth and is based on an original painting by a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey artist.
Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of AmericaPage iii
U.S. GEODYNAMICS COMMITTEEROBIN BRETT, U.S. Geological Survey, Chairman
DON ANDERSON, California Institute of Technology
WILLIAM DICKINSON, University of Arizona
RICHARD S. FISKE, Smithsonian Institution
RAYMOND JEANLOZ, University of California, Berkeley
KENNETH LARNER, Colorado School of Mines
ELIZABETH MILLER, Stanford University
ROBERT S. YEATS, Oregon State University
Former Members Whose Terms Expired During the Reporting Period
FRANK M. RICHTER, University of Chicago, Chairman
DONALD J. DEPAOLO, University of California, Berkeley
T. MARK HARRISON, University of California, Los Angeles
BRADFORD H. HAGER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
WILLIAM J. HINZE, Purdue University
JOHN C. MUTTER, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
ROBERT A. PHINNEY, Princeton University
SIGMUND SNELSON, Shell Oil Co.
E-AN ZEN, University of Maryland
National Research Council Staff
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Program Officer
PEMBROKE J. HART, Senior Program Officer (retired)
CHARLENE E. ANDERSON, Administrative Assistant
SHELLEY A. MYERS, Project Assistant
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BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCESWILLIAM L. FISHER, University of Texas at Austin, Chairman
SAMUEL S. ADAMS, Minerals Consultant, Lincoln, NH
GAIL M. ASHLEY, Rutgers University
MARK P. CLOOS, University of Texas at Austin
NEVILLE G.W. COOK, University of California, Berkeley
JOEL DARMSTADTER, Resources for the Future
DONALD J. DEPAOLO, University of California, Berkeley
GORDON P. EATON, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
W. GARY ERNST, Stanford University
NORMAN H. FOSTER, Independent Petroleum Geologist, Denver
FREEMAN GILBERT, University of California, San Diego
DONALD C. HANEY, University of Kentucky
THOMAS H. JORDAN, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ANDREW H. KNOLL, Harvard University
PHILIP E. LAMOREAUX, P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Inc.
SUSAN LANDON, Thomasson Partner Associates, Denver
J. BERNARD MINSTER, University of California, San Diego
CAREL OTTE, JR., Unocal Corporation (retired)
JILL D. PASTERIS, Washington University
EDWARD C. ROY, JR., Trinity University
National Research Council Staff
JONATHAN G. PRICE, Staff Director
THOMAS M. USSELMAN, Associate Staff Director
WILLIAM E. BENSON, Senior Staff Officer
KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Program Officer
BRUCE B. HANSHAW, Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Program Officer
LALLY A. ANDERSON, Staff Assistant
CHARLENE E. ANDERSON, Administrative Assistant
JUDITH L. ESTEP, Administrative Assistant
SHELLEY A. MYERS, Project Assistant
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COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCESM. GORDON WOLMAN, The Johns Hopkins University, Chairman
PATRICK R. ATKINS, Aluminum Company of America
PETER S. EAGLESON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
EDWARD A. FRIEMAN, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
W. BARCLAY KAMB, California Institute of Technology
JACK E. OLIVER, Cornell University
FRANK L. PARKER, Vanderbilt University
RAYMOND A. PRICE, Queen's University at Kingston
LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
STEVEN M. STANLEY, The Johns Hopkins University
WARREN WASHINGTON, National Center for Atmospheric Research
EDITH BROWN WEISS, Georgetown University Law Center
National Research Council Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director (as of 10/93)
LORRAINE W. WOLF, Assistant Executive Director (until 9/93)
JEANETTE A. SPOON, Administrative Officer
SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate
ROBIN ALLEN, Senior Project Assistant
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice- chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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PREFACE
The U.S. Geodynamics Committee (USGC) began considering challenges and opportunities in geomagnetic research in 1988, thanks in large part to the efforts of John Hermance. A USGC-appointed task group, chaired by Rob Van der Voo, recommended that the USGC convene a workshop to:
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address challenges and future directions in geomagnetic research and applications;
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consider the need for an ongoing mechanism for future discussion, interaction, and coordination; and
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develop a plan of action.
The USGC accepted this recommendation and, in July 1990, convened a planning group to design a workshop for the above-stated purposes, emphasizing those aspects of research and applications related to temporal and spatial variations of the geomagnetic field in the solid Earth and geospace (atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere) environment. From these discussions, the concept of a national geomagnetic initiative emerged.
The National Geomagnetic Initiative Workshop was held in Washington, D.C., on March 16-20, 1992. The workshop addressed scientific challenges in four principal areas:
1. main field and core processes;
2. electromagnetic induction in the solid Earth and oceans;
3. lithospheric magnetic anomalies; and
4. magnetospheric and ionospheric processes.
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The workshop also addressed issues common to these areas related to instrumentation, analytical techniques, computational facilities, and data access and management.
As recommended by the task group, the topics of paleomagnetism and archaeomagnetism were not addressed at the workshop. These topics were addressed in an earlier report, Problems and Current Trends in Rock Magnetism and Paleomagnetism (Subir K. Banerjee, Robert F. Butler, and Victor A. Schmidt, editors; Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, 1986). The committee has included in the present report some amplifications based on a document, GP Initiative on the Earth's Magnetic Field (Kenneth L. Verosub [chairman], George E. Backus, Edward R. Benton, Robert S. Coe, Dennis V. Kent, and Ronald F. Merrill), which was presented to the Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Section of the American Geophysical Union in October 1988.
Participation in the workshop (there were about 90 attendees) was sufficiently broad to be representative of the major scientific topics and operational issues addressed at the workshop and the relevant current and planned national and international programs. Several constituencies were represented at the workshop: groups from the National Research Council—in particular, the Space Studies Board, the Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research, and the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources; national scientific societies through their memberships, especially the American Geophysical Union, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and the Geological Society of America; government agencies; and industry. Although several foreign scientists participated in the workshop, the study was undertaken mainly to guide the U.S. scientific community. However, the USGC recognizes that implementation of some of the report recommendations will require the participation of foreign scientists and governments.
This report is based on the findings and recommendations of the workshop as set forth in a draft of the workshop proceedings submitted to the USGC. It is intended as a comprehensive overview of geomagnetism that describes the scope of the science and its interdisciplinary importance.
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By describing the totality of geomagnetic activities in research and applications sponsored by a wide range of federal, state, and other organizations, the document identifies a broad spectrum of fundamental scientific and societal concerns and thus constitutes a truly national enterprise.The report contains three unrefereed appendixes. The first two of these contain draft statements prepared by the working groups of the workshop. The third contains details of the workshop organization.
The statements prepared by the working groups were intended to represent a balanced view of the major scientific problems, challenges, and concomitant needs for various aspects of geomagnetism. The working group reports were prepared under the guidance of working group chairs, who endeavored to take account of suggestions made during the meetings and to reflect a consensus of the discussions. Constraints of time did not permit review of each working group report by all group participants; thus, individual participants may not agree with all statements in the reports, and these group reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the USGC. However, they contain a wealth of information regarding the challenges and opportunities in geomagnetism and provide a basis for further discussion of these issues.
The appendixes in this document are included solely for the interest of the reader. The reports in Appendix A and Appendix B have not been subjected to review by the National Research Council. Any conclusions or recommendations that are given or implied in them are the opinions of the individual authors or working groups. Responsibility for the main text of the report rests with the USGC.
The USGC expresses thanks to all who contributed to the success of the workshop, especially the members of the Executive Committee of the workshop, John Hermance (chair), William Hinze, Robert Langel, and Christopher Russell, and to the chairs of the working groups and subgroups. The USGC is pleased to acknowledge the U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Headquarters and National
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Geophysical Data Center), National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Geological Survey, whose support made this report possible.The USGC notes with sad regret the untimely death of Edward Benton, who served on the Executive Committee of the workshop and contributed so much of his personal energy toward assuring the success of this enterprise.
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CONTENTSPlease refer to the page image for an unflawed representation of this content.
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DATA MANAGEMENT
Data, Metadata, Data Quality, and Formats
Data Centers
Data Availability
Derived Products
Recommendations
COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION
International Scientific Unions and Programs
National and International Activities
Recommendations
TOPICAL WORKING GROUP REPORTS
THE MAGNETOSPHERE, IONOSPHERE, AND ATMOSPHERE
UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE AND EVOLUTION OF THE LITHOSPHERE FROM MAGNETIC ANOMALIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION STUDIES IN THE EARTH AND OCEANS
MAIN FIELD AND CORE PROCESSES
OPERATIONAL WORKING GROUP REPORTS
OPERATIONAL PLATFORMS
DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
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THE NATIONAL GEOMAGNETIC INITIATIVE