Advancements in Planetary Unstructured Equivalent Source Inversion and Current Circulation Modeling Technology for Earth's Magnetic Field

Abstract

This study presents a novel approach to modeling the Earth’s geomagnetic field, which originates from electric currents approximately 2,900 km beneath the surface, crucial for understanding planetary dynamics. We introduce a method for inverting a planetary-scale equivalent magnetization source and develop a 3-D equivalent electric current circulation model from this source, enhancing understanding of these deep currents. This research signifies the first use of unstructured tetrahedral magnetization inversion technology for planet-scale magnetic data interpretation and equivalent source model construction. Validated through a synthetic case study, the method is applied to the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) and SWARM satellite datasets, comprising 35,768 magnetic vectors from two orbital altitudes. Employing various mesh configurations, we construct and compare detailed current source models from these datasets. The effectiveness of our equivalent current sources is confirmed by comparison with dynamo research findings, demonstrating significant advancements in geomagnetic field modeling, particularly in interpretability, and providing novel insights into Earth’s magnetic phenomena.