PDS_VERSION_ID        = PDS3                                                  
RECORD_TYPE           = STREAM                                                
OBJECT                = TEXT                                                  
  PUBLICATION_DATE      = 2013-09-26                                          
  NOTE                  = "A description of Mercury magnetic field            
models, with references to the literature."                                   
END_OBJECT            = TEXT                                                  
END                                                                           
                                                                              
A Note about Mercury Magnetic Field Models                                    
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The magnetic field in the vicinity of planet Mercury has contributions        
from internal and external sources. The external magnetic field is            
generated by magnetospheric current systems and has been represented          
by the Alexeev et al. [2010] magnetosphere model. The best-fit model          
parameters are given in Table 1 of Johnson et al. [2012]. The Alexeev         
magnetic field model includes the planetary dipole field, and an              
assessment of the dipole term is included in Johnson et al. [2012].           
A study of the low-order structure of Mercury's magnetic field by             
Anderson et al. [2012] examines the structure of the planetary field          
beyond the dipole. It includes an estimate for the quadrupole term and        
upper limits for the axially-aligned terms of degree 3 and 4. The             
internal model parameters are summarized in Table 4 of Anderson et al.        
[2012].                                                                       
                                                                              
                                                                              
References                                                                    
----------                                                                    
                                                                              
Alexeev, I. I., E. S. Belenkaya, J. A. Slavin, H. Korth, B. J.                
Anderson, D. N. Baker, S. A. Boardsen, C. L. Johnson, M. E. Purucker,         
M. Sarantos, and S. C. Solomon, Mercury's magnetospheric magnetic             
field after the first two MESSENGER flybys, Icarus, 209, 23-39,               
doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.01.024, 2010.  [ALEXEEVETAL2010]                    
                                                                              
Anderson, B. J., C. L. Johnson, H. Korth, R. M. Winslow, J. E.                
Borovsky, M. E. Purucker, J. A. Slavin, S. C. Solomon, M. T. Zuber,           
and R. L. McNutt, Low-degree structure in Mercury's planetary magnetic        
field, J. Geophys. Res., 117, E12, doi:10.1029/2012je004159, 2012.            
[ANDERSONETAL2012]                                                            
                                                                              
Johnson, C. L., M. E. Purucker, H. Korth, B. J. Anderson, R. M.               
Winslow, M. M. H. Al Asad, J. A. Slavin, I. I. Alexeev, R. J.                 
Phillips, M. T. Zuber, and S. C. Solomon, MESSENGER observations of           
Mercury's magnetic field structure, J. Geophys. Res., 117, E12,               
doi:10.1029/2012je004217, 2012.  [JOHNSONETAL2012]