Magnetic navigation is an important tool used in ships, planes, and even your phone’s GPS! Scientists use observations from satellites, ships, planes to keep track of the geomagnetic field’s changes, but there are always gaps in data coverage. The CrowdMag citizen science project from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) helps to fill these gaps and improve our understanding of Earth’s magnetic field.
![Someone holding a mobile phone while using CrowdMag app on an outside path. (Image credit: Trinity Foreman/NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information) Someone holding a mobile phone while using CrowdMag app on an outside path.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2020/Sep/crowdmag_hero.jpg?h=b88e30bf&itok=5kzNoIVY)
CrowdMag is a citizen science project that uses your mobile phone. Created by the National Centers for Environmental Information, the CrowdMag app uses your phone's internal magnetometer to record magnetic fields as you move around outside. Explore the data you collect and see if you can match up magnetic anomalies with objects in your environment. (Image credit: Trinity Foreman/NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information)