Magnetic North Pole Gone Walkabout?

DJTorrente

DJTorrente

En-Route
PoA Supporter
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
3,454
Location
NJ
Display Name
Display name:
DJTorrente
The Magnetic North Pole Has Officially Changed Position

I know we all use the GNSS magenta line all but exclusively these days, so is this anything pilots should be concerned about more than the average person? If paper charts were anything more than a novelty I might compare the current ones to old ones I still have kicking around to see the declination lines. I do know if it gets bad enough runways can be renumbered.

I expect that our tools and techniques for measuring the precise location of the magnetic north pole have improved quite a bit over the years. However, I can't help but notice that the rate of change seems to be accelerating.
 
Last edited:
Earth experiences frequent (geologically) geomagnetic reversals. The most active time period seems to be a 12 million year period centered around a period about 15 million years ago. In that 12 million years, Earth experienced 51 reversals. It is believed the last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago.

Geomagnetic reversal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

We're due. Sleep well!
 
A new World Magnetic Module from which the declination lines are created is issued by NOAA ever 5 years. In 2019 the pole shifted enough that they issued an out of cycle WMM. The new WMM was just issued last month at normal cycle.

The WMM is used by all sorts of nav equipment in several types of platforms. The platform I am most familiar with is INS sensors in which the new WMM must be updated.

Geomagnetism | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Geomagnetism is one of the oldest geophysical sciences. Geomagnetic fields have been observed and used since ancient times, and are still used for modern applications in navigation and mineral exploration. NCEI develops and distributes models of the geomagnetic field and maintains archives of...
www.ncei.noaa.gov www.ncei.noaa.gov
 
Last edited:
Domenick said:
Earth experiences frequent (geologically) geomagnetic reversals. The most active time period seems to be a 12 million year period centered around a period about 15 million years ago. In that 12 million years, Earth experienced 51 reversals. It is believed the last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago.

Geomagnetic reversal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

We're due. Sleep well!
Click to expand...
It's gonna turn up near Santorini...
 
Domenick said:
Earth experiences frequent (geologically) geomagnetic reversals. The most active time period seems to be a 12 million year period centered around a period about 15 million years ago. In that 12 million years, Earth experienced 51 reversals. It is believed the last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago.

Geomagnetic reversal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

We're due. Sleep well!
Click to expand...

I've heard numerous scientists saying we are overdue for a reversal, and the signs are all there. I've also seen a lot of hype that this could be catastrophic for humanity, although I'll admit I'm not smart enough to understand all of the whys. Part of me wonders if it will be like the Y2K bug we were terrified would shut the world down, and at the end of the day I think some Blockbuster customers got hit with crazy late fees.

Let's see who is here that isn't old enough to get the Y2K or Blockbuster references...
 
Well, when reversals do happen, it takes a while...

The duration of a full reversal varies between 2,000 and 12,000 years.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal#cite_note-glatzmaier2015-3"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a>​

Even as slow as my Musketeer is, I don't think a change that occurs at a max rate of 180 degrees per 2000 years (0.09 deg/yr) is going to have much effect on my navigation during any given trip.
 
Half Fast said:
Well, when they do happen, it takes a while...

The duration of a full reversal varies between 2,000 and 12,000 years.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal#cite_note-glatzmaier2015-3"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a>​

Even as slow as my Musketeer is, I don't think a change that occurs at a max rate of 180 degrees per 2000 years (0.09 deg/yr) is going to have much effect on my navigation during any given trip.
Click to expand...
i dunno…it’s probably cause you to make a downwind turn…
 
Note, however, that VORs are not recalibrated very often for magnetic drift. So the "zero degree" radial may be quite far off from the current local zero degree bearing. Doesn't really matter for approaches since you'll still follow the published radial to the runway even if its "wrong" in absolute terms.
 
AlleyCat67 said:
Note, however, that VORs are not recalibrated very often for magnetic drift. So the "zero degree" radial may be quite far off from the current local zero degree bearing. Doesn't really matter for approaches since you'll still follow the published radial to the runway even if its "wrong" in absolute terms.
Click to expand...

People still use VOR’s?
 
They've been remarking runways with new heading numbers on a regular basis for years. Plenty of guidance on that which is based on several international magnetic standards. And the rate increase of the magnetic shift is one of the reasons for the reduction in certified compass roses around the country due to the costs of remarking and recalibrating the rose on a more regular schedule.
 
DJTorrente said:
The Magnetic North Pole Has Officially Changed Position

I know we all use the GNSS magenta line all but exclusively these days, so is this anything pilots should be concerned about more than the average person? If paper charts were anything more than a novelty I might compare the current ones to old ones I still have kicking around to see the declination lines. I do know if it gets bad enough runways can be renumbered.

I expect that our tools and techniques for measuring the precise location of the magnetic north pole have improved quite a bit over the years. However, I can't help but notice that the rate of change seems to be accelerating.
Click to expand...
I think we need to care during a ir check ride because they will check the compass card calibration date (or something, I haven’t finished yet)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top