Abstract. Taking advantage of nine years of CHAMP satellite mission (June 2000–August 2009), we investigate the temporal evolution of the observatory monthly crustal magnetic biases. To determine biases we compute X (northward), Y (eastward) and Z (vertically downward) monthly means from 42 observatory one-minute or hourly values, and compare them to synthetic monthly means obtained from a GRIMM3 core field model (V. Lesur, personal communication, 2014). Both short period variations and long term trends in the monthly bias time series are analyzed. A comparison with biases based on MAGSAT and Ørsted satellite data, related to the 1979.92 and 1992.92 epochs is performed. Generally, the larger biases averaged over nine years and the larger differences between biases based on different models are found in Z component. This can be the signature of the induced magnetic fields. Although annual trends in most bias series are observed, no clear evidence that the constant crustal field changed significantly over the studied period is found. Time series of monthly biases exhibit distinct oscillatory pattern in the whole time span, which we assign to the external field contributions. The amplitudes of these variations are linked with the phase of the solar cycle, being significantly larger in the period 2000–2005 than in the period 2006–2009. Clear semi-annual variations are evident in all components, with extremes in spring and fall months of each year. Common external field pattern is found for European monthly biases. A dependence of the bias monthly variations on geomagnetic latitudes is not found for the non-European observatories. The results from this study represent a base to further exploit the observatory and repeat stations magnetic biases together with the data from the new satellite mission SWARM.
The Distribution of the Orbits of Sporadic Meteors
