Regional magnetic anomaly fields: 3D Taylor polynomial and surface spline models

We used data from 1960.0, 1970.0, 1980.0, 1990.0, and 2000.0 to study the geomagnetic anomaly field over the Chinese mainland by using the three-dimensional Taylor polynomial (3DTP) and the surface spline (SS) models. To obtain the pure anomaly field, the main field and the induced field of the ionospheric and magnetospheric fields were removed from measured data. We also compared the SS model anomalies and the data obtained with Kriging interpolation (KI). The geomagnetic anomaly distribution over the mainland was analyzed based on the SS and 3DTP models by transferring all points from 1960.0–1990.0 to 2000.0. The results suggest that the total intensity F anomalies estimated based on the SS and KI for each year are basically consistent in distribution and intensity. The anomalous distributions in the X-, Y-, and Z-direction and F are mainly negative. The 3DTP model anomalies suggest that the intensity in the X-direction increases from −100 nT to 0 nT with longitude, whereas the intensity in the Y-direction decreases from 400 nT to 20 nT with longitude and over the eastern mainland is almost negative. The intensity in the Z-direction and F are very similar and in most areas it is about −50nT and higher in western Tibet. The SS model anomalies overall reflect the actual distribution of the magnetic field anomalies; however, because of the uneven distribution of measurements, it yields several big anomalies. Owing to the added altitude term, the 3DTP model offers higher precision and is consistent with KI.