Specifications of the WDMAM:

The WDMAM will represent the total field magnetic anomalies of the Earth's lithosphere at the grid interval of about 5 km (specifically, 3 minutes of latitude/longitude) and altitude of 5 km km above the geoid and wavelengths corresponding to spherical harmonic degree 16 and above (shorter than about 2500 km wavelength). The contributors may freely choose the methods of merging short as well as long wavelength parts of the field, provided that they are transparent, scientific, and reproducible and are proven robust during the review process. For the first WDMAM model, the candidate maps would be based on the same data for all the participants. Any new data set not currently available with the committee can be made available to the WDMAM effort by talking to any of the executive members. These data will be available to all the participants beginning July 1, 2006 at Compilation Teams page .

Candidate (draft) model evaluation

1. Requirements for candidate presentation to the WDMAM group: By 16 October 2006, the digital grid of the candidate WDMAM map and explanatory texts on details of procedures used to merge different grids and their illustrative examples are requested as pdf or Word-documents, and model(s) as alphanumeric files. It is urged that these candidate model description papers should be ready for scientific review and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. The candidate groups are requested to recommend willing and qualified external reviewers for the WDMAM review process and, separately, the review of the scientific manuscripts.
2. The candidate evaluation: Between 17October and 10 December 2006, the candidate models will be evaluated externally (outside to the WDMAM task force reviewers) and internally (by the candidate presenters), for the quality of the individual grids (e.g., seamless merging, data/location verification, etc.) and the aesthetics of their presentation, and for the intercomparison between different candidate models (e.g., intercomparison of differences between the models at all geographic locations and evaluation of the reasons behind any large deviations). The reviewers will write and upload a report on the results of their evaluation before the AGU meeting starts 11 December.
3. The WDMAM executive committee will have access to the candidate models and the evaluation material. The committee will have a meeting 13 December during the FALL AGU (in/near convention center, time and exact place to be agreed upon later) to make a decision on finalizing the map. The final product prepared according to the recommendations will be reviewed subsequently. All data and qualified individual models will be included on DVDs, and the manuscripts will be compiled for a journal issue based on their scientific merit established in the peer review process.