The Estimation of the Earth's Gravity Field.

Abstract

This report reviews the various methods for the description of the Earth's gravity field from direct and/or indirect observations. Geopotential models produced by various organizations and in use during the past 15 years are discussed in detail. Recent and future programs for the improvement of global gravity fields are reviewed and the expected improvements from new observation and data processing techniques are estimated. The regional and local gravity field is also reviewed. The various data types and their spectral properties, the sensitivities of the different gravimetric quantities to datatypes are discussed. The techniques for the estimation of gravimetric quantities and the achievable accuracies are presented (e.g. integral formulae, collocation). The results of recent works in this area by prominent authors are reviewed. The prediction of gravity outside the earth from surface data is discussed in two forms: a) prediction of gravity disturbance at high altitudes and b) upward continuation of gravity anomalies. The achievable improvements of the high frequency field by airborne gradiometry is summarized utilizing recent investigations. Keywords: Geopotential models; Satellite altimetry; Gravity gradiometry; Integral formulae; Gravity at altitudes; Satellite to satellite tracking; Spectral properties of gravity data; Collocation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1986
Accession Number
ADA172177

Entities

People

  • Bela Szabo

Organizations

  • Ohio State University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Data Processing
  • Geodesy
  • Geodetic Surveys
  • Geography
  • Global Positioning Systems
  • Grids
  • Jet Propulsion
  • Measurement
  • Navigation
  • North America
  • Physics Laboratories
  • United States
  • World Geodetic System

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Adaptive Control and Estimation with Uncertainty in Dynamic Systems.
  • Marine Hydrodynamics
  • Oceanography.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris