Recommended Tolerances for Magnetometer Orientation and Field Calibration Procedure

Magnetometers are increasingly being deployed for traffic detection in both fixed wired and wireless installations around the United States. Magnetometers respond to local magnetic field disturbances from the ambient magnetic field of the earth, and this response may be expected to depend on the relative orientation of the magnetometer axis and the direction of the earth's magnetic field lines at the point of deployment. As documented by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps, the declination and inclination of the earth's magnetic field vary significantly over the continental United States, yet there is no traffic engineering design literature characterizing the effect of geographic magnetic field variation on magnetometer detection performance. This study briefly reviews the scientific theory, identifies the magnetometer installation parameters of most importance, and characterizes their impact on performance. In addition, recommendations are based on USGS data, which can be used to develop specifications for installation, testing, and acceptance of magnetometer-based detection technology. Finally, a simple procedure for field calibration of sensor orientation in a conduit to near-optimal rotation angle is presented.