Iowa physicists find low-cost way to calibrate magnetometers
A University of Iowa research team has identified a less expensive method to calibrate magnetometers, devices that measure magnetic fields.
Triaxial magnetometers, which measure magnetic fields along three axes, are used in GPS, metal detectors, and space and ground-based studies of planetary and solar magnetic fields. If the devices are not properly calibrated, the data they collect can be inaccurate.
Traditionally, to calibrate the devices, researchers must take magnetometers to large coil facilities — laboratories where scientists can observe how the instruments respond to magnetic fields.
These facilities create a precisely controlled magnetic field around the device. Because researchers know the values of the magnetic field they are creating, they can compare that baseline data to the magnetometer’s values and adjust accordingly.
