The geomagnetism branch of the MUNICH EARTH OBSERVATORY is also well known as the GEOMAGNETIC OBSERVATORY FUERSTENFELDBRUCK. The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), a member institution of the International Council for Science (ICSU), has assigned the international code FUR to our observatory.
On selected locations distributed over the whole globe, geomagnetic observatories are set up to track the long and short term changes of the Earth's magnetic field. These data are not only crucial to geo and space science, but also finds application in medical and biological studies. The data are widely used in ore and oil exploration, cartography and navigation.
It is the Munich Earth Observatory's RESPONSIBILITY to continuously measure the
Earth's magnetic field at its location in Fuerstenfeldbruck,
far away from the busy city of Munich and other industrial areas, where
artificial
magnetic fields would interfere the measurements. The geological
subsurface at Fuerstenfeldbruck makes the location ideal to measure the
magnetic main field that originates from the Earth's core. Measurements
were started in 1939 and are a continuation of the measurements in
Maisach
(1927 - 1932) and Munich (1840 - 1926). This allows the Munich Earth
Observatory
to continue one of the oldest and most precious time series in
geomagnetism.
Measurements of the Earth's magnetic field strength and direction are
made
every second with high accuracy and precision. Online data are
transmitted
to the World Data Centers and national and international institutions
by email
every 10 minutes. FUR is a member of the INTERMAGNET (INTErnational
Real-time
MAGnetic observatory NETwork).
The Munich Earth Observatory is part of the Geophysics Section, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich.