CrowdMag

CIRES's CrowdMag is a crowdsourced data collection project that uses a mobile app to collect geomagnetic data from the magnetometers that modern smartphones use as part of their navigation systems. CIRES collects these data from citizen scientists around the world and provides quality control services before making them available through a series of aggregated maps and charts. These data have the potential to provide a high-resolution alternative to geomagnetic satellite data, as well as near-real-time information about changes in the magnetic field.

Project Goals

• To build, grow, and foster a worldwide community of citizen scientists and enthusiasts in sharing and collecting magnetic field data to further our understanding of Earth’s magnetic field.
• To develop magnetic models and maps using data shared by CrowdMag users in combination with data collected by ships, aircraft, and satellites to fill in the gaps of the professional mapping of Earth’s magnetic field.

CrowdMag Map

The CrowdMag Interactive Map shows crowdsourced magnetic data collected in the past 24 hours from the CrowdMag app. Data are updated hourly, and data points are snapped to the nearest grid points (following a roughly 1x1 kilometer grid) to ensure the privacy of data contributors.

 

Launch Interactive Map

Contributing Data

Contributing data to CrowdMag is incredibly easy. Install the CrowdMag app, and use it to measure magnetic data along your path during walks, runs, or other outdoor activities. Data ("Magtivities") can be used to create a map of the magnetic field in your area. We encourage you to share your data with the CIRES geomagnetism research group, and to take multiple measurements along the same path to improve data quality and resolution.

CrowdMag’s magnetic calculator provides magnetic variation (declination), the magnetic field’s dip angle, the total magnetic field and other magnetic field components (as well as their associated uncertainties) based on the latest  World Magnetic Model.

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CrowdMag Tutorial

CrowdMag is a citizen science project that uses your mobile phone’s internal   magnetometer to record magnetic data as you move. Anonymous data collected through the application can be used to detect magnetic anomalies caused by objects in the surrounding environment.

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CrowdMag Flight Mode Tutorial 

The CrowdMag app now has a flight mode where you can collect magnetic data while you fly. Airplane observations fill in a large gap in magnetic data. Satellites can capture the biggest shapes of the magnetic field, and ground based observations can capture the smallest, but scientists aren’t able to capture observations between those extremes without aircraft. Help contribute to this project the next time you fly!

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Download the App

Use the links below to download the CrowdMag app on the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android):

If you enable the “send data” option in the CrowdMag app, the following information will be sent to CIRES / NOAA:

• Magnetic field data from the phone's magnetic sensor
• Time of measurement
• Location of measurement Location accuracy
• The model of your phone (so that we know which type of sensor was used to collect the magnetic field data)

CrowdMag data is stored in an internal, non-public database at CIRES / NOAA. Our magnetic field research team will use these data to assess the utility of incorporating crowdsourced magnetic field data for modeling Earth’s magnetic field. Using CrowdMag data, our team will periodically produce scientific products such as maps, graphs and/or mathematical models. To further geomagnetic field research, these products may be presented at meetings, be included in publications, or be made available to the public via the Internet.

Getting a new phone? You can export your data to your computer before switching devices. Once your new phone is ready to go, you can import the backup data and continue using CrowdMag without losing your status for data contributed, areas covered, or magtivities completed.

Release Notes