Modelling of magnetic field measurements at Mercury

Mapping Mercury's internal magnetic field with a magnetometer in closed orb it around the planet will provide valuable information about its internal s tructure. By measuring magnetic field multipoles of order higher than the d ipole we could, in principle, determine some properties, such as size and l ocation, of the internal source. Here we try to quantify these expectations . Using conceptual models, we simulate the actual measurement during the Be piColombo mission, and then we analyze the simulated data in order to estim ate the measurement errors due to the limited spatial sampling. We also inv estigate our ability to locate the field generating current system within t he planet. Finally, we address the main limitation of our model, due to the presence of time-varying external magnetospheric currents. (C) 2001 Publis hed by Elsevier Science Ltd.