About OpenMag
A community-built atlas of Earth's magnetic field.
What is OpenMag?
OpenMag is an open, community-driven project for mapping Earth's local geomagnetic field using real-world measurements contributed by people around the world.
Earth's magnetic field varies by location and over time. OpenMag provides a simple way for anyone to contribute a local magnetic-field measurement and explore measurements collected by the community.
Each contribution helps build a growing geographic record of magnetic-field strength at the Earth's surface.
Why are we building it?
High-quality geomagnetic data exists, including measurements produced by satellites, observatories, research institutions, and scientific missions. However, detailed local surface measurements are not always easily accessible, geographically dense, or continuously updated by the public.
OpenMag is intended to complement—not replace—professional scientific datasets.
Our goal is to create an additional layer of information: community-contributed measurements taken at specific locations and times.
As participation grows, OpenMag can become a living map showing how magnetic-field measurements vary from place to place and over time.
Why community measurements matter
One measurement is simply one observation.
Thousands or millions of measurements collected across different locations and times can become a valuable dataset.
OpenMag allows ordinary people to participate directly in building that dataset.
Measurements include location, field strength, time, measurement device, and methodology information where available so users can understand the context of each observation.
Community measurements should not automatically be treated as laboratory-grade scientific measurements. OpenMag should preserve measurement provenance and methodology so the quality of the dataset can improve as participation grows.
Built on decentralized infrastructure
OpenMag is being built using decentralized Internet Computer infrastructure.
The goal is to create a public data resource that is not dependent on a traditional architecture controlled entirely by a single centralized cloud provider such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
Decentralized infrastructure can help make the project more transparent, resilient, and independently accessible over the long term.
Our vision
Imagine being able to search a city, ZIP/postal code, address, or coordinates anywhere in the world and see magnetic-field measurements contributed near that location.
As the dataset grows, OpenMag could allow people to observe geographic patterns, compare measurements over time, identify unusual readings for further investigation, and provide researchers with an additional community-generated dataset.
The long-term goal is simple:
- 1Measure locally.
- 2Contribute globally.
- 3Build an open map of Earth's magnetic field together.
Scientific responsibility
OpenMag contains community-contributed measurements from devices with different sensors, calibration, accuracy, and environmental conditions. Measurements should not be interpreted as authoritative scientific observations without independent verification.
A public resource, built to last
OpenMag runs on decentralized Internet Computer infrastructure, keeping the atlas transparent, resilient, and independently accessible — a community-owned layer of information about Earth's magnetic field.