magnetic declination

British  

noun

1. Also called: declination.   magnetic variation.  the angle that a compass needle makes with the direction of the geographical north pole at any given point on the earth's surface

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magnetic declination Scientific  

1. The horizontal angle between the true geographic North Pole and the magnetic north pole, as figured from a specific point on the Earth.

2. Compare magnetic inclination

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Example Sentences

There was nothing to do but use the three-inch theodolite, which, setting to one degree, would give a good result, with a mean of thirty-two settings, for a region with such variable magnetic declination.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

With us the magnetic declination is a minimum at about eight o’clock in the morning, and is greatest at two o’clock in the afternoon.

From The Philosophy of the Weather And a Guide to Its Changes by Butler, Thomas Belden

Men were invited to believe that a subterranean freely-rotating nucleus occasions by its position the diurnal and annual changes of magnetic declination.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von

This can be approximately obtained by a good compass, and allowance made for the magnetic declination at your own place.

From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.

If there is a true meridian on the map, but not a magnetic meridian, one may be constructed as follows, if the magnetic declination is known: Fig.

From Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition by Moss, James A. (James Alfred)