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June 9 – 18, 2008
DDC:
550 - Earth sciences
Abstract:
Due to the lack of magnetic measurements in scarcely inhabited regions of the Earth the Geomagnetic community strongly asks for automated absolute measurements to replace the manual operations with a DI flux theodolite. GAUSS, the Geomagnetic AUtomated SyStem was developed in a cooperation of GFZ Potsdam and TU Braunschweig at Niemegk observatory. The field intensity is determined in two horizontal directions by means of rotations of a three axial fluxgate magnetometer. Together with the standard field variation and total intensity recordings, this method allows for a full calibration of the rotated fluxgate sensor, providing the absolute determination of all components. In contrast to the DI flux measurements, the reading of angles is obsolete, while the exact orientation of the instrument is controlled by an optical set-up. The automated instrument was first installed and run at the Niemegk observatory in 2006. After some successful measurements in fall 2006 it turned out that for longterm reliability several relevant mechanical components have to be modified. We now present the improvements applied to the system and compare a new time series of measurements with the standard observatory data.
