Band-Limited Analysis of Current Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking, Gradiometry and Combined Earth Gravity Models

Several satellite-only gravity models based on the analysis of satellite-to-satellite tracking (SST) data have become available in the course of the last decade. The realization of the satellite missions CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) enabled the practical implementation of two modes of the SST principle, namely the high–low and the low–low SST. Though similar in their fundamental idea, which is the indirect observation of the gravity field based on the position of two satellites orbiting the Earth, the different architecture and geometrical layout of these techniques capture different fingerprints of the observed field. In the last few years, satellite-only gravity models based on the analysis of satellite gravity gradiometry (SGG) data became available and led to a new insight into the gravity field. The implementation of the SGG principle became possible after the launch of Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), the first gravitational gradiometry mission. Based on the principle of differential accelerometry, GOCE provides the gravitational gradients which can be used in gravity field retrieval as primary observations of the field at satellite altitude. In the present study, we consider some of the current satellite-only and combined gravity models based on the analysis of CHAMP, GRACE, GOCE, gravimetry and altimetry data. In order to perform a thorough analysis of the models, we present an overview of tools for their quality assessment both in an absolute and relative sense in terms of computing spectral quantities, such as correlation or smoothing coefficients per degree and per order, attempting to demonstrate possible non-isotropic features in the models. Furthermore, typical geodetic measures in computing second-order derivatives, such as degree and order variances and difference variances, have been also evaluated for the same models, using the combined model EGM2008 as reference. Apart from these standard spectral assessment quantities, a systematic spatial representation of the second derivatives at satellite altitude has been performed. The combination of the two analysis steps (spectral and spatial) permits a first detailed assessment of the models, focusing especially on the identification of characteristic interpretable bandwidths.     

GOCE Data Processing: The Spherical Cap Regularization Approach

Due to the sun-synchronous orbit of the satellite gravity gradiometry mission GOCE, the measurements will not be globally available. As a consequence, using a set of base functions with global support such as spherical harmonics, the matrix of normal equations tends to be ill-conditioned, leading to weakly determined low-order spherical harmonic coefficients. The corresponding geopotential strongly oscillates at the poles. Considering the special configuration of the GOCE mission, in order to stabilize the normal equations matrix, the Spherical Cap Regularization Approach (SCRA) has been developed. In this approach the geopotential function at the poles is predescribed by an analytical continuous function, which is defined solely in the spatially restricted polar regions. This function could either be based on an existing gravity field model or, alternatively, a low-degree gravity field solution which is adjusted from GOCE observations. Consequently the inversion process is stabilized. The feasibility of the SCRA is evaluated based on a numerical closed-loop simulation, using a realistic GOCE mission scenario. Compared with standard methods such as Kaula and Tikhonov regularization, the SCRA shows a considerably improved performance.     

Atmospheric effects on satellite gravity gradiometry data

Atmospheric masses play an important role in precise downward continuation and validation of satellite gravity gradiometry data. In this paper we present two alternative ways to formulate the atmospheric potential. Two density models for the atmosphere are proposed and used to formulate the external and internal atmospheric potentials in spherical harmonics. Based on the derived harmonic coefficients, the direct atmospheric effects on the satellite gravity gradiometry data are investigated and presented in the orbital frame over Fennoscandia. The formulas of the indirect atmospheric effects on gravity anomaly and geoid (downward continued quantities) are also derived using the proposed density models. The numerical results show that the atmospheric effect can only be significant for precise validation or inversion of the GOCE gradiometric data at the mE level.     

A study of regional gravity field recovery from GOCE vertical gravity gradient data in the Auvergne test area using collocation

Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is the first satellite mission that observes gravity gradients from the space, to be primarily used for the determination of high precision global gravity field models. However, the GOCE gradients, having a dense data distribution, may potentially provide better predictions of the regional gravity field than those obtained using a spherical harmonic Earth Geopotential Model (EGM). This is investigated in Auvergne test area using Least Squares Collocation (LSC) with GOCE vertical gravity gradient anomalies (T_zz), removing the long wavelength part from EGM2008 and the short wavelength part by residual terrain modelling (RTM). The results show that terrain effects on the vertical gravity gradient are significant at satellite altitude, reaching a level of 0.11 E?tv?s unit (E.U.) in the mountainous areas. Removing the RTM effects from GOCE T_zz leads to significant improvements on the LSC predictions of surface gravity anomalies and quasigeoid heights. Comparison with ground truth data shows that using LSC surface free air gravity anomalies and quasi-geoid heights are recovered from GOCE T_zz with standard deviations of 11 mGal and 18 cm, which is better than those obtained by using GOCE EGMs, demonstrating that information beyond the maximal degree of the GOCE EGMs is present. Investigation of using covariance functions created separately from GOCE T_zz and terrestrial free air gravity anomalies, suggests that both covariance functions give almost identical predictions. However, using covariance function obtained from GOCE T_zz has the effect that the predicted formal average error estimates are considerably larger than the standard deviations of predicted minus observed gravity anomalies. Therefore, GOCE T_zz should be used with caution to determine the covariance functions in areas where surface gravity anomalies are not available, if error estimates are needed.     

A comparison of satellite systems for gravity field measurements

A detailed and accurate Earth gravity field model is important both to geophysical progress and to the precise tracking necessary for interpretation of geophysical experiments. Various satellite techniques which may be used to determine the Earth's gravity field are compared and their ability to recover the long wavelength and short wavelength features of the field are described.A high-low configuration satellite-to-satellite tracking mission is recommended for the determination of the long wavelength portion of the gravity field. Satellite altimetry and satellite gradiometry experiments are recommended for determination of the short wavelength portion of the gravity field.     

基于时空域混合法利用Kaula正则化精确和快速解算GOCE地球重力场

为了研究卫星重力梯度技术对中高频地球重力场反演精度的影响,本文基于时空域混合法,利用Kaula正则化反演了250阶GOCE地球重力场.模拟结果表明:第一,时空域混合法是精确和快速求解高阶地球重力场的有效方法;第二,Kaula正则化是降低正规阵病态性的重要方法;第三,基于改进的预处理共轭梯度迭代法可快速求解大型线性方程组...     

Conforming Falcon‡ gravity and the global gravity anomaly

Gravity derived only from airborne gravity gradient measurements with a normal error distribution will have an error that increases with wavelength. It is straightforward in principle to use sparsely sampled regional gravimeter data to provide the long wavelength information, thereby conforming the derived gravity to the regional gravity. Regional surface or airborne gravimeter data are not always available and can be difficult and expensive to collect in many of the areas where an airborne gravity gradiometer survey is flown. However the recent release by the Danish National Space Centre of the DNSC08 global gravity anomaly data has provided regional gravity data for the entire earth of adequate quality for this purpose. Studies over three areas, including comparisons with ground, marine and airborne gravimetry, demonstrate the validity of this approach. Future improvements in global gravity anomaly data are expected, particularly as the product from the recently launched Gravity field and steady‐state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite becomes available and these will lead directly to an improvement in the very wide bandwidth gravity available after conforming gravity derived from gravity gradiometry with the global gravity.     

Performance of GOCE and GRACE-derived mean dynamic topographies in resolving Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts

Presently, two satellite missions, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), are making detailed measurements of the Earth’s gravity field, from which the geoid can be obtained. The mean dynamic topography (MDT) is the difference between the time-averaged sea surface height and the geoid. The GOCE mission is aimed at determining the geoid with superior accuracy and spatial resolution, so that a more accurate MDT can be estimated. In this study, we determine the mean positions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts using the purely geodetic estimates of the MDT constructed from an altimetric mean sea surface and GOCE and GRACE geoids. Overall, the frontal positions obtained from the GOCE and GRACE MDTs are close to each other. This means that these independent estimates are robust and can potentially be used to validate frontal positions obtained from sparse and irregular in situ measurements. The geodetic frontal positions are compared to earlier estimates as well as to those derived from MDTs based on satellite and in situ measurements and those obtained from an ocean data synthesis product. The position of the Sub-Antarctic Front identified in the GOCE MDT is found to be in better agreement with the previous estimates than that identified in the GRACE MDT. The geostrophic velocities derived from the GOCE MDT are also closer to observations than those derived from the GRACE MDT. Our results thus show that the GOCE mission represents an improvement upon GRACE in terms of the time-averaged geoid.     

GOCE Quick-Look Gravity Solution: Application of the Semianalytic Approach in the Case of Data Gaps and Non-Repeat Orbits

The satellite mission GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), the first Core Mission of the Earth Explorer Programme funded by ESA (European Space Agency), is dedicated to the precise modelling of the Earth's gravity field, with its launch planned for 2006. The mathematical models for parameterizing the Earth's gravity field are based on a series expansion into spherical harmonics, yielding a huge number of unknown coefficients. Their computation leads to the solution of very large normal equation systems. An efficient way to handle these equation systems is the so-called semianalytic or lumped coefficients approach, which theoretically requires an uninterrupted, continuous time series of observations, recorded along an exact circular repeat orbit. In this paper the consequences of violating these conditions are analyzed. The effects of an interrupted observation stream onto the estimated spherical harmonic coefficients are demonstrated, and an iterative strategy, which reduces the negative influence depending on the characteristics of the data gaps, is proposed. Additionally, the impact of an imperfectly closing orbit (non-repeat orbit) on the gravity field model is analyzed, and a strategy to minimize the corresponding errors is presented. The applicability of the semianalytic approach also to a joint inversion of satellite-to-satellite tracking data in high-low mode (hl-SST) and satellite gravity gradiometry (SGG) observations is demonstrated, where the analysis of the former component is based on the energy conservation law. Several realistic case studies prove that the semianalytic approach is a feasible tool to generate quick-look gravity solutions, i.e. fast coefficient estimates using only partial data sets. This quick-look analysis shall be able to detect potential distortions of statistical significance (e.g. systematic errors) in the input data, and to give a fast feedback to the GOCE mission control.     

卫星重力探测技术的发展

在地球物理勘探领域中,人造地球卫星的发射为重力测量提供了新的途径。与以往探测重力的手段相比,重力卫星的发射大大改善了人们对地球重力场的认识,随着CHAMP、GRACE和GOCE卫星的发射,将把现有静态中长波部分重力场的精度提高1—2个数量级,并提供长波部分重力场随时间变化的信息。卫星重力学对我国的基础测绘服务和国防建设有着重要的实用价值。     

一种卫星重力梯度数据的ARMA最优滤波模型构建方法

由于卫星重力梯度观测的有色噪声特性和海量观测特征,在利用直接法进行重力场模型的最小二乘求解时,观测值的协方差阵为超大型的非对角阵,这给数值求解带来了极大困难.本文提出了一种基于先验误差功率谱密度的最优ARMA滤波模型构建方法,结合法方程的分块求解策略,可实现对卫星重力梯度观测值的高效滤波处理.数值仿真结果表明,利用最优ARMA滤波器进行时域滤波后,法方程的态性得到了明显改善,重力梯度观测值中的有色噪声得到了有效的"白化"处理,大地水准面精度得到了显著提升.     

基于非全张量卫星重力梯度数据的张量不变量法

在非全张量卫星重力梯度观测数据的处理过程中,由于卫星姿态角误差、梯度观测数据误差和非全张量观测等原因,重力梯度值从卫星重力梯度仪系转换到地固系后,精度损失严重.本文研究了张量不变量法以解决上述问题.首先在重力梯度张量不变量线性化的基础上,建立了基于卫星轨道面的不变量观测模型,完整地推导了两类重力梯度张量不变量的球近似和...     

重力卫星精密星间测距系统滤波器技术指标论证

本文基于重力卫星精密星间测距测量模式,从星间测距观测值与地球重力场频谱关系的角度,建立了距离观测值关于重力位系数的敏感矩阵,分析了各阶次重力场位系数对应的敏感矩阵的频谱特性,讨论了星间测距信息中能反应地球重力场信息的有效信号频带,给出了能最大限度保留地球重力场信息的低通滤波器的通带截止频率、通带增益波纹和频率采样率技术指标设计方案,可为我国首期卫星跟踪卫星重力测量计划的主要技术指标的初步设计提供参考.     

卫星重力梯度恢复地球重力场的频谱分析

根据仪器功率谱密度和重力位系数阶方差的定义,本文建立了卫星重力梯度测量噪声功率谱密度与重力场模型的误差阶方差的直接对应关系,并基于此讨论了重力梯度测量精度、卫星轨道高度以及运行时间对地球重力场恢复精度的影响.相比于传统的基于最小二乘法评估卫星载荷噪声对地球重力场恢复精度的影响而言,本文提出的方法简单、直接,有助于快速设计和确定卫星重力测量计划的有关参数.     

Impact of GOCE Level 1b data reprocessing on GOCE-only and combined gravity field models

The reprocessing of Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) Level 1b gradiometer and star tracker data applying upgraded processing methods leads to improved gravity gradient and attitude products. The impact of these enhanced products on GOCE-only and combined GOCE+GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) gravity field models is analyzed in detail, based on a two-months data period of Nov. and Dec. 2009, and applying a rigorous gravity field solution of full normal equations. Gravity field models that are based only on GOCE gradiometer data benefit most, especially in the low to medium degree range of the harmonic spectrum, but also for specific groups of harmonic coefficients around order 16 and its integer multiples, related to the satellite’s revolution frequency. However, due to the fact that also (near-)sectorial coefficients are significantly improved up to high degrees (which is caused mainly by an enhanced second derivative in Y direction of the gravitational potential — V_YY), also combined gravity field models, including either GOCE orbit information or GRACE data, show improvements of more than 10% compared to the use of original gravity gradient data. Finally, the resulting gradiometry-only, GOCE-only and GOCE+GRACE global gravity field models have been externally validated by independent GPS/levelling observations in selected regions. In conclusion, it can be expected that several applications will benefit from the better quality of data and resulting GOCE and combined gravity field models.     

Upward continuation of Dome-C airborne gravity and comparison with GOCE gradients at orbit altitude in east Antarctica

An airborne gravity campaign was carried out at the Dome-C survey area in East Antarctica between the 17th and 22nd of January 2013, in order to provide data for an experiment to validate GOCE satellite gravity gradients. After typical filtering for airborne gravity data, the cross-over error statistics for the few crossing points are 11.3 mGal root mean square (rms) error, corresponding to an rms line error of 8.0 mGal. This number is relatively large due to the rough flight conditions, short lines and field handling procedures used. Comparison of the airborne gravity data with GOCE RL4 spherical harmonic models confirmed the quality of the airborne data and that they contain more high-frequency signal than the global models. First, the airborne gravity data were upward continued to GOCE altitude to predict gravity gradients in the local North-East-Up reference frame. In this step, the least squares collocation using the ITGGRACE2010S field to degree and order 90 as reference field, which is subtracted from both the airborne gravity and GOCE gravity gradients, was applied. Then, the predicted gradients were rotated to the gradiometer reference frame using level 1 attitude quaternion data. The validation with the airborne gravity data was limited to the accurate gradient anomalies (T_XX, T_YY, T_ZZ and T_XZ) where the long-wavelength information of the GOCE gradients has been replaced with GOCO03s signal to avoid contamination with GOCE gradient errors at these wavelengths. The comparison shows standard deviations between the predicted and GOCE gradient anomalies T_XX, T_YY, T_ZZ and T_XZ of 9.9, 11.5, 11.6 and 10.4 mE, respectively. A more precise airborne gravity survey of the southern polar gap which is not observed by GOCE would thus provide gradient predictions at a better accuracy, complementing the GOCE coverage in this region.     

卫星重力梯度测量及其应用前景探讨

卫星重力梯度测量是研究空间重力梯度探测与应用的新领域,特别适于检测地球重力场的短波特征.目前它尚处在研制超灵敏张量梯度仪器和应用预研究的阶段.本文考察了卫星梯度测量的重要性和优越性.阐述了它在惯性导航和地球重力场模型精化中的作用;探讨了卫星梯度测量在重力勘探、地球动力学与地震预测研究中的多种用途;讨论了它在检测微重力环境、检验重力场延拓理论和改善飞行器轨道受力分析中的重要意义.     

GOCE, Satellite Gravimetry and Antarctic Mass Transports

In 2009 the European Space Agency satellite mission GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) was launched. Its objectives are the precise and detailed determination of the Earth’s gravity field and geoid. Its core instrument, a three axis gravitational gradiometer, measures the gravity gradient components V _xx , V _yy , V _zz and V _xz (second-order derivatives of the gravity potential V) with high precision and V _xy , V _yz with low precision, all in the instrument reference frame. The long wavelength gravity field is recovered from the orbit, measured by GPS (Global Positioning System). Characteristic elements of the mission are precise star tracking, a Sun-synchronous and very low (260 km) orbit, angular control by magnetic torquing and an extremely stiff and thermally stable instrument environment. GOCE is complementary to GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), another satellite gravity mission, launched in 2002. While GRACE is designed to measure temporal gravity variations, albeit with limited spatial resolution, GOCE is aiming at maximum spatial resolution, at the expense of accuracy at large spatial scales. Thus, GOCE will not provide temporal variations but is tailored to the recovery of the fine scales of the stationary field. GRACE is very successful in delivering time series of large-scale mass changes of the Antarctic ice sheet, among other things. Currently, emphasis of respective GRACE analyses is on regional refinement and on changes of temporal trends. One of the challenges is the separation of ice mass changes from glacial isostatic adjustment. Already from a few months of GOCE data, detailed gravity gradients can be recovered. They are presented here for the area of Antarctica. As one application, GOCE gravity gradients are an important addition to the sparse gravity data of Antarctica. They will help studies of the crustal and lithospheric field. A second area of application is ocean circulation. The geoid surface from the gravity field model GOCO01S allows us now to generate rather detailed maps of the mean dynamic ocean topography and of geostrophic flow velocities in the region of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.     

Adaptation of the torus and Rosborough approach to radial base functions

The most common approach for the processing of data of gravity field satellite missions is the so-called time-wise approach. In this approach satellite data are considered as a time series and processed by a standard least-squares approach. This approach has a very strong flexibility but it is computationally very demanding. To improve the computational efficiency and numerical stability, the so-called torus and Rosborough approaches have been developed. So far, these approaches have been applied only for global gravity field determinations, based on spherical harmonics as basis functions. For regional applications basis functions with a local support are superior to spherical harmonics, because they provide the same approximation quality with much less parameters. So far, torus and Rosborough approach have been developed for spherical harmonics only. Therefore, the paper aims at the development and testing of the torus and Rosborough approach for regional gravity field improvements, based on radial basis functions as basis functions. The developed regional Rosborough approach is tested against a changing gravity field produced by simulated ice-mass changes over Greenland. With only 350 parameters a recovery of the simulated mass changes with a relative accuracy of 5% is possible.