Statistical Analysis of In-Field Magnetometer Calibration for Two Representative Methods

In this paper, we propose a procedure for the investigation of the feasibility and effectiveness of recently developed in-field magnetometer calibration methods. Extensive numerical analyses under different noise levels are conducted to identify the proper measurement conditions of each method. The variance analysis is also presented to study the observability of model parameters based on the information matrix under different inclination angles. In accordance with the analysis, several important conclusions are drawn including the condition to ensure the validity of the parameter estimation and the approach to improve the performance of the calibration results. Numerical simulation and experimental validation support our analytical findings. Accordingly, this study provides an in-depth exploration into the limitations of typical in-field magnetometer calibration methods.