This working group started in Division I as WG I-1: Analysis of the main field and secular variations. At the 1989 IAGA Scientific Assembly in Exeter, U.K., the working group was moved to Division V and became WG V-8 (but kept the same name). At the 1993 IAGA Scientific Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina, WG V-4: Magnetic Surveys and Charts was disbanded, and its functions and members were absorbed into WG V-8. The name of WG V-8 was changed to Analysis of the Global and Regional Field and Its Secular Variation to reflect the expanded role of the working group.
At the 2003 General Assembly in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, IAGA Division V WG V-8 reorganized to become V-MOD: Geomagnetic Field Modeling. This working group was developed to promote and coordinate international efforts to model and analyze the internal geomagnetic field and its secular variation on both global and regional scales. The working group holds business meetings and arranges symposia at IAGA Scientific Assemblies and International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) General Assemblies.
Leadership
International Geomagnetic Reference Field
V-MOD is responsible for producing the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) model, representing Earth’s large-scale magnetic field of internal origen.
World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map (WDMAM)
V-MOD created the WDMAM as part of an effort to comprehensively map the magnetic anomalies caused by Earth’s lithosphere.
IAGA's Division V Working Group 8 holds Business meetings every two years in conjunction with the IAGA or IUGG Assembly.