Where is magnetic declination the worst

The Earth creates its own magnetic field from the electric currents created in the liquid iron-nickel core.

Compass needles point in the direction of the magnetic field lines, which is generally different from the direction to the Geographic North Pole. The compass pointing direction can also differ from the direction to the Magnetic North Pole since the magnetic field lines are not just circles connecting the magnetic poles. This dataset shows lines of equal magnetic declination isogonic lines measured in degrees east positive or west negative of True North. The green line is where the declination equals zero and the direction of True North and Magnetic North are equal agonic line.

The Magnetic North and South Poles are indicated by the green circles. At points east of the agonic line, a magnetic needle will point west of true north negative declination. There is a pattern, but it does not follow meridians or parallels. Isogonic lines are like magnetic contour lines — they trace a path of constant magnetic declination.

Skip to main content. Search Search. Resources for Teachers. Download Pole Locations. Displays historical isogonic lines calculated for the years Download Historic Maps. You can compute the true bearing from a magnetic bearing by adding the magnetic declination to the magnetic bearing The compass points in the directions of the horizontal component of the magnetic field where the compass is located, and not to any single point CrowdMag: Crowdsourced magnetic data.

Magnetic Declination Magnetic declination, sometimes called magnetic variation, is the angle between magnetic north and true north.