Progress in the modeling of Earth and planetary internal magnetic fields

Abstract

A majority of the planets in the Solar System are characterized by intrinsic magnetic fields that co-rotate with these celestial bodies. With ongoing advances in human deep-space exploration, magnetic field models have been established for all known Solar System bodies with intrinsic magnetic fields. Planetary magnetic field modeling serves as a fundamental basis for a diverse range of research objectives, including investigations of planetary internal dynamical processes, examinations of planetary evolutionary histories, determinations of the interactions between planetary magnetic fields and the solar wind, and estimations of the shielding effects of planetary magnetic fields against high-energy charged particles. Furthermore, the modeling of planetary magnetic fields represents an interdisciplinary research endeavor, encompassing aspects such as the theories of magnetic field modeling, separation of internal and external magnetic field sources, parameter inversion methods, and equation optimization. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the progress in magnetic field modeling for the Earth, other planets in the Solar System, and also the Moon and Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moon. We describe the characteristics of the intrinsic magnetic fields of planets and present details of the most accurate global magnetic field models for Solar System planets. Starting with mathematical modeling methods for planetary magnetic fields, we outline the development of magnetic field modeling techniques since the era of Gauss and identify the current hot topics in this field. The review concludes with a forward-looking perspective on the trends in magnetic field modeling research and the potential contributions of China’s future deep-space exploration to the study of planetary magnetic fields.

Keywords

• earth magnetic field
• planetary magnetic field
• internal magnetic field
• magnetic field model
• modeling method