Measurement of magnetic fields on the few 100-km length scale is significant for many geophysical applications including mapping of crustal magnetism and ocean circulation measurements, yet available techniques for such measurements are very expensive or of limited accuracy. We propose a method for remote detection of magnetic fields using the naturally occurring atomic sodium-rich layer in the mesosphere and existing high-power lasers developed for laser guide star applications. The proposed method offers a dramatic reduction in cost and opens the way to large-scale, parallel magnetic mapping and monitoring for atmospheric science, navigation, and geophysics. atomic physics | geomagnetism | optical pumping M easurements of geomagnetic fields are an important tool for peering into the Earth's interior, with measurements at differing spatial scales giving information about sources at corresponding depths. Mapping of fields on the few meter scale can locate buried ferromagnetic objects (e.g., unexploded ordnance or abandoned vessels containing toxic waste), whereas maps of magnetic fields on the kilometer scale are used to locate geological formations promising for mineral or oil extraction. On the largest scale, the Earth's dipole field gives information about the geodynamo at depths of several thousand kilometers. Magneticfield variations at intermediate length scales, in the range of several tens to several hundreds of kilometers likewise offer a window into important scientific phenomena, including the behavior of the outer mantle, the solar quiet dynamo in the ionosphere (1), and ionic currents as probes of ocean circulation (2), a major actor in models of climate change. To avoid contamination from local perturbations, measurements of such slowly varying components of the magnetic field must typically be made at a significant height above the Earth's surface (e.g., measurements of components with a spatial-variation scale of 100 km require an altitude of approximately 100 km) and with high sensitivity (on the order of 1 nT). Though magnetic mapping at high altitude has been realized with satellite-born magnetic sensors (3-5), the great expense of multisatellite missions places significant limitations on their deployment and use. Here, we introduce a high-sensitivity ground-based method of measuring magnetic fields from sources near Earth's surface with 100 km spatial resolution.* The method exploits the naturally occurring atomic sodium layer in the mesosphere and the significant technological infrastructure developed for astronomical laser guide stars (LGS). This method promises to enable creation of geomagnetic observatories and of regional or global sensor arrays for continuous mapping and monitoring of geomagnetic fields without interference from ground-based sources. Overview of Technique The measurement we envisage is a form of atomic magnetometry, adapted to the conditions of the mesosphere. The principle is to measure spin precession of sodium atoms by spin-polarizing them, allowing them to evolve coherently in the magnetic field, and determining the postevolution spin state. Spin polarization of mesospheric sodium is achieved by optical pumping, as proposed in the seminal paper on sodium LGS by Happer et al. (6). In the simplest realization, the pumping laser beam is circularly polarized and is launched from a telescope at an angle nearly perpendicular to the local magnetic field, as shown i
