Magnetometer
Magnetic fields are vector quantities characterized by both strength and direction. The strength of a magnetic field is measured in units of tesla in the SI units, and in gauss in the cgs system of units. 10,000 gauss are equal to one tesla. Measurements of the Earth's magnetic field are often quoted in units of nanotesla (nT), also called a gamma. The Earth's magnetic field can vary from 20,000 to 80,000 nT depending on location, fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field are on the order of 100 nT, and magnetic field variations due to magnetic anomalies can be in the picotesla (pT) range. "Gaussmeters" and "teslameters" are magnetometers that measure in units of gauss or tesla, respectively. In some contexts, magnetometer is the term used for an instrument that measures fields of less than 1 millitesla (mT) and gaussmeter is used for those measuring greater than 1 mT.
Maxwell (unit)
The unit name honours James Clerk Maxwell, who presented a unified theory of electromagnetism. The "maxwell" was recommended as a CGS unit at the International Electrical Congress held in 1900 at Paris. This practical unit was previously called a "line", reflecting Faraday's conception of the magnetic field as curved lines of magnetic force, which he designated as "line of magnetic induction". "Kiloline" (10 line) and "megaline" (10 line) were sometimes used because 1 line was very small relative to the phenomena that it was used to measure.