Distributions of measurement errors for single-axis magnetic field meters during measurements near appliances

Comparisons are made between the average magnetic flux density as it would be measured with a single-axis coil probe and the flux density at the center of the probe, assuming that the probe is oriented to measure the maximum field at that point. Probability distributions of the differences between the two quantities are calculated assuming a dipole magnetic field and are found to be asymmetric. The distributions are used to estimate the uncertainty for maximum magnetic field measurements at distances that are large compared with the dimensions of the field source.