Manoj C. Nair
Senior Research Scientist, CIRES · University of Colorado Boulder
My research group builds mathematical models of Earth's magnetic field—the same models used in your phone's compass, aviation navigation, and directional drilling. At NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, we develop the WMM, IGRF, and HDGM and study how well they perform under real-world conditions.
Research
Geomagnetic Field Modeling — Development and evaluation of reference models including the WMM, IGRF, and HDGM, with particular attention to systematic errors and uncertainty quantification. These models underpin compass calibration, runway designations, and directional drilling worldwide. NCEI Geomagnetic Data →
Space Weather & Disturbance Forecasting — Empirical and statistical methods for estimating geomagnetic disturbance indices (Dst) in real time and retrospectively, and for producing cloud-based disturbance-field corrections. HDGM →
Machine Learning for Geomagnetic Forecasting — The MagNet data-science challenge, which I organized, drew 622 participants to advance reproducible Dst prediction. Ongoing work applies ML methods to geomagnetic time-series problems.
Smartphone Magnetometry — CrowdMag collects geomagnetic data from smartphone sensors; MagMapper identifies magnetic anomalies from subsurface features such as orphaned wells. Both grew out of work in my group on low-cost sensor validation.
Ionospheric Electric Fields — Estimation of prompt-penetration electric fields from solar-wind drivers using empirical transfer functions, with applications to equatorial ionospheric variability. Electric field model →
Magnetic Navigation — Analysis of magnetic anomaly maps for navigation and positioning (MagNav), including estimation of model and map error metrics and their practical limitations.
Affiliations
CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder · NOAA NCEI Geomagnetism Program · Flatirons Geomagnetic Services (co-founder)
Publications
Full publication list on Google Scholar →
Tools
Geomagnetic Calculators — Magnetic declination, field strength, and components for any location and date. NOAA Calculator →
WMM Error Estimates — Uncertainty for the World Magnetic Model at any location and time. Calculate →
Geomagnetic Data Sources — Observations from satellites, observatories, ships, aircraft, and ground surveys. Browse data →
Geomagnetic & Electric Field Models — WMM, IGRF, HDGM, and ionospheric models for navigation and research. View models →
Raspberry Pi Magnetometer — Live field observations from my home station in Louisville, CO, compared with USGS Boulder observatory data. View data →