In a very real sense the mapping and interpretation of lithospheric fields from satellite data have required solutions for a new set of problems and the development of a new complement of analysis tools – in effect, the development of a new subdiscipline of satellite geomagnetism. It is the purpose of this book to document the particular and specialized characteristics and methods of this new subdiscipline.

It is our opinion that this subdiscipline has reached a plateau in its progress, with limited new developments. There are several reasons for this situation. First, satellite magnetic field studies are starving for lack of new data. In spite of extensive planning for new missions to follow Magsat, the only satellite mission to be dedicated to observations of lithospheric magnetic anomalies, no new magnetic satellite mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or other national agencies of the United States or other nations, suitable for mapping the lithospheric field, has been flown since 1980. Currently planned missions include Denmark's Ørsted, South Africa's SUNSAT, Argentina's SAC-C, and Germany's CHAMP. SUNSAT is to be launched with Ørsted sometime in 1998, and SAC-C and CHAMP launches are scheduled for March 1999 and mid-1999, respectively. Of these, only CHAMP is being designed for lithospheric studies. Second, while many lithospheric studies using POGO and Magsat data have been and continue to be published, analysis of these data is difficult and, as a result, somewhat controversial.