Application of kinematical geodesy for determining the short wave length components of the gravity field by satellite gradiometry
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Date
1973-03
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Ohio State University. Division of Geodetic Science
Abstract
This report describes an investigation into the use of satellite borne gravity gradient devices for the recovery of terrestrial gravity information in terms of discrete mean gravity anomalies, point masses or potential coefficients. Simulation studies were conducted considering two possible instrument configurations: 1) a hand-mounted system capable of sensing five independent components of the gravity gradient tensor and 2) a rotating gravity gradient system. The spatial partial derivatives of a gravitational potential are developed using the methods of tensor calculus with specialization to the potential in spherical harmonics. A method is presented for estimating the root mean square magnitudes of all components of the gravity gradient tensor. The resulting estimates and the simulated solutions for the hard-mounted system strongly indicate that the measuring sensitivities required for the cross-gradient terms are beyond practical limits for satellite gradiometers. In addition, the effect of altitude attenuation on the gradients was evaluated. The simulation experiments demonstrated that a rotating gradiometer with a sensitivity and accuracy of 0.01 E can satisfactorily resolve 2° x 2° mean gravity anomalies (equivalent to degree 90) with an accuracy of 0.5 to 1 milligals at 250 to 300 kilometers altitude.