Magnetometer

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A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field (B) or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of the magnetic B-field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, one that measures the direction of an ambient magnetic field, in this case, the Earth's magnetic field. Other magnetometers measure the magnetic dipole moment of a magnetic material such as a ferromagnet, for example by recording the effect of this magnetic dipole on the induced current in a coil. The invention of the magnetometer is usually credited to Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1832. Earlier, more primitive instruments were developed by Christopher Hansteen in 1819, and by William Scoresby by 1823. Magnetometers are widely used for measuring the Earth's magnetic field, in geophysical surveys, to detect magnetic anomalies of various types, and to determine the dipole moment of magnetic materials. In an aircraft's attitude and heading reference...

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