A spherical cap harmonic analysis was applied to Spain and neighbouring areas, covering a region with a cap half-angle of 16°. The technique, due to Haines, has allowed us to obtain a model of secular variation (SV) for a time interval of 18 years reduced to the epoch 1987.5. The total number of selected data points was 1581 provided from ten observatories and 60 repeat stations. The SV model has a maximum spatial index of four and temporal degree of two. The coefficients were tested and the statistically non-significant terms removed. Another model covering a smaller region with greater density of data has been developed and both results compared.

The average secular variations derived from the definitive geomagnetic reference field (DGRF) and the international geomagnetic reference field (IGRF) were compared with these models and maps plotting the calculated first field derivatives are presented. The integration of the final model will serve to update satellite data in order to produce a regional main field model.

This work was partially supported by the Dirección General de Investigaciôn Científica y Técnica, under the research project No. PB87-0390 at the Observatori de l’Ebre.

Final full-text version of the paper available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00319201

Peer reviewed