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High Definition Geomagnetic Model 2023 Real-Time Disturbance Calculator

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: December 19, 2025 | Last Modified: 2022-11-15T00:00:00.000+00:00
The High Definition Geomagnetic Model (HDGM) is a global, high resolution model of the Earth's geomagnetic main and crustal field, providing magnetic field values (total field, dip, and declination) at any point above or below the Earth's surface. Well planners can use HDGM to compute magnetic reference values at any point, as well as easily integrate HDGM into their directional drilling software. HDGM is updated annually to correctly model secular changes in the geomagnetic field. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with the directional drilling industry and the University of Colorado have developed a real-time component for NOAA's High Definition Geomagnetic Model. HDGM-RT improves the HDGM by accurately modeling the magnetic fields originating in the Earth's magnetosphere in real-time using a combination of solar-wind observing satellites situated between Earth and sun and a chain of geomagnetic observatories on the Earth's surface. The model also includes an ionospheric field model calculated from a combination of observatory and Swarm satellite data in order to represent the daily variations in the ionosphere. The addition of HDGM RT can save rig-time and reduce the drilling cost by enabling improved drill string interference correction during adverse space weather conditions.

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