Upgraded web portal improves access to geomagnetism data

The World Data Centre (WDC) for Geomagnetism, based in Edinburgh, was established in 1966 and is operated by BGS. Its mission is to collate, store and distribute data (and associated metadata) from observations of the Earth’s magnetic field.

As part of this mission, the WDC Data Portal, created by BGS, holds data and metadata on over 570 magnetic observatories around the world and provides open access to these holdings. The data portal was launched at the end of 2024 with a fresh, modern interface providing a step change in accessibility to these important datasets.

The new WDC data portal allows users to plot graphs of geomagnetic data, display availability charts and filter by time or location. It also now offers observatory K-index data as well cadences of minute, hour, day, month and year. Data can be downloaded from the portal in six different text formats, and an API (application/program interface) is available for programmatic access to the data and metadata.

A newly released update has introduced new filters, including magnetic latitude filtering and dip angle filtering. Filtering observatories by magnetic latitude and dip angle is an important tool for academics whose research targets specific phenomena, such as those in the auroral regions or the equatorial electrojet.

The data from the portal can also be used to help produce models, including the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF), which is created for the public good and is updated every five years to ensure scientists across the world can continue with their forecasts and explorations. The model’s fourteenth update was released in January 2025 and was led by BGS, alongside 18 other institutions from four continents.

One other feature of the new WDC data portal is that makes metadata — the information about the data — more easily accessible to users. This is important as it means users can trust the data and trace its origin.

We are really pleased to announce the recent updates to our geomagnetism portal, which showcases the world’s biggest repository of magnetic field data from ground observatories. The new features and design of the portal mean that it is more user friendly and ensures that more data than ever before is freely accessible to users.

The portal allows models to be created, including IGRF-14, which, in a full circle moment, feeds back into the portal by providing the data for magnetic latitude filtering and dip angle filtering.

Adam Emsley, geomagnetism scientific support and IT specialist at BGS.

In February 2025, the WDC was awarded CoreTrustSeal certification. CoreTrustSeal is an international, community-based, non-governmental and non-profit organisation promoting sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures. To achieve certification, a data repository must supply evidence demonstrating that it is following good practices and meeting certain standards.

We worked hard on the update of the portal and it is great to see that we have been awarded CoreTrustSeal certification, which highlights that we are a trustworthy data resource.

Adam Emsley, geomagnetism scientific support and IT specialist at BGS.

Access the WDC Data Portal.