An evaluation of recent internal field models

The paper reviews the current status of internal field models and evaluates several recently published models by comparing their predictions with annual means of the magnetic field measured at 140 magnetic observatories from 1973 to 1977. Three of the four models studied, viz. AWC/75, IGS/75, and Pogo 8/71, were nearly equal in their ability to predict the magnitude and direction of the current field. The fourth model, IGRF 1975, was significantly poorer in its ability to predict the current field. All models seemed to be able to extrapolate predictions quite well several years outside the data range used to construct the models.