Analysis and Correction of the Magnetometer’s Position Error in a Cross-Shaped Magnetic Tensor Gradiometer

When using the technique of magnetic gradient tensor measurements to obtain the position of magnetic objects, calibration of the magnetic tensor gradiometer plays a pivotal role in precisely locating the target, and extensive research has been carried out on this up to now. However, previous studies have always lacked sufficient discussion on the position error of magnetometers in magnetic tensor gradiometers caused by inaccurate installment of magnetometers. In this paper, we analyze and correct this position error based on a magnetic dipole source. The result of the simulation exemplifies that the magnetometer’s position error will affect the locating accuracy and, therefore, it is worth correcting this error. The relationship between position error and magnetic gradient tensor components is established, followed by an error correction method based on this relationship. Simulations illustrate that this method can effectively decrease the effect caused by the position error of magnetometers and improve the locating performance with locating error and magnetic moment errors dropping from 2 to 0.2 m and 6 × 10 5 A ⋅ m 2 to 5 × 10 4 A ⋅ m 2 , respectively.