Comparison of undulation difference accuracies using gravity anomalies and gravity disturbances

Errors are considered in the outer zone contribution to oceanic undulation differences as obtained from a set of potential coefficients complete to degree 180. It is assumed that the gravity data of the inner zone (a spherical cap), consisting of either gravity anomalies or gravity disturbances, has negligible error. This implies that error estimates of the total undulation difference are analyzed. If the potential coefficients are derived from a global field of 1°×1° mean anomalies accurate to ε_Δg=10 mgal, then for a cap radius of 10°, the undulation difference error (for separations between 100 km and 2000 km) ranges from 13 cm to 55 cm in the gravity anomaly case and from 6 cm to 36 cm in the gravity disturbance case. If ε_Δg is reduced to 1 mgal, these errors in both cases are less than 10 cm. In the absence of a spherical cap, both cases yield identical error estimates: about 68 cm if ε_Δg=1 mgal (for most separations) and ranging from 93 cm to 160 cm if ε_Δg=10 mgal. Introducing a perfect 30-degree reference field, the latter errors are reduced to about 110 cm for most separations.     

High degree spherical harmonic expansion of gravity data

A spherical harmonic expansion of the gravity field up to degree and order 200 was carried out. Free air anomaly data over Canada (1⁰×1⁰ block averages) with a range of 211.1 mgal were used for testing. A low degree expansion (N=30) produced a map with a range of 63.6 mgal with contour patterns that could hardly be correlated with the original hand contoured map. A high degree expansion (N=200) on the other hand resulted in a map with a range of 199.8 mgal which quite faithfully reproduced the original including its local variations. Test computations verify that by monitoring the RMS values and the range of the expansion it is possible to arrive at an optimum degree of expansion for a given data set. It was also verified by the computations, that, since the computed expansions essentially have a zero value outside the domain of the input, it is possible to combine the results of separate non-overlapping expansions. Contribution of the Earth Physics Branch No. 900. Presented at the 1977 Spring Meeting, AGU, May 30–June 3, Washington, D.C.     

On the spherical and spheroidal harmonic expansion of the gravitational potential of the topographic masses

This paper is devoted to the spherical and spheroidal harmonic expansion of the gravitational potential of the topographic masses in the most rigorous way. Such an expansion can be used to compute gravimetric topographic effects for geodetic and geophysical applications. It can also be used to augment a global gravity model to a much higher resolution of the gravitational potential of the topography. A formulation for a spherical harmonic expansion is developed without the spherical approximation. Then, formulas for the spheroidal harmonic expansion are derived. For the latter, Legendre’s functions of the first and second kinds with imaginary variable are expanded in Laurent series. They are then scaled into two real power series of the second eccentricity of the reference ellipsoid. Using these series, formulas for computing the spheroidal harmonic coefficients are reduced to surface harmonic analysis. Two numerical examples are presented. The first is a spherical harmonic expansion to degree and order 2700 by taking advantage of existing software. It demonstrates that rigorous spherical harmonic expansion is possible, but the computed potential on the geoid shows noticeable error pattern at Polar Regions due to the downward continuation from the bounding sphere to the geoid. The second numerical example is the spheroidal expansion to degree and order 180 for the exterior space. The power series of the second eccentricity of the reference ellipsoid is truncated at the eighth order leading to omission errors of 25 nm (RMS) for land areas, with extreme values around 0.5 mm to geoid height. The results show that the ellipsoidal correction is 1.65 m (RMS) over land areas, with maximum value of 13.19 m in the Andes. It shows also that the correction resembles the topography closely, implying that the ellipsoidal correction is rich in all frequencies of the gravity field and not only long wavelength as it is commonly assumed.     

国际高程参考系统在珠峰地区的实现

2020珠峰高程测量,首次确定并发布了基于国际高程参考系统(IHRS)的珠峰正高。在珠峰地区实现国际高程参考系统,采用的方案是建立珠峰区域高精度重力大地水准面。利用地球重力场谱组合理论和基于数据驱动的谱权确定方法,测试优选参考重力场模型及其截断阶数和球冠积分半径等关键参数,联合航空和地面重力等数据建立了珠峰区域重力似大地水准面模型,61点高精度GNSS水准高程异常检核表明,模型精度达3.8 cm,加入航空重力数据后模型精度提升幅度达51.3%。提出顾及高差改正的峰顶高程异常内插方法,采用顾及地形质量影响的高程异常——大地水准面差距转换改正严密公式,使用峰顶实测地面重力数据,基于国际高程参考系统定义的重力位值W₀和GRS80参考椭球,最终确定了国际高程参考系统中的高精度珠峰峰顶大地水准面差距。     

联合多代测高数据建立中国海域重力异常模型

本文联合T/P数据、T/P新轨道数据、ERS数据、GFO数据、GeosatGM数据和ERS-1/168数据,用测高卫星记录点的位置信息直接计算沿轨大地水准面的方向导数,结合测线轨迹方向的方位角在交叉点处推求垂线偏差,然后利用逆Vening-Meinesz公式计算了中国近海(0o～41oN,105o～132oN)2′×2′格网分辨率的海域重力异常模型。将其与CLS_SHOW99重力异常模型比较,统计结果表示与该模型差异的RMS为8.15mgal,在剔除差值大于20mgal的点(剔除3.3%)以后,RMS为4.72mgal;与某海区船测重力异常比较的RMS为8.91mgal。     

Spherical harmonic modelling to ultra-high degree of Bouguer and isostatic anomalies

The availability of high-resolution global digital elevation data sets has raised a growing interest in the feasibility of obtaining their spherical harmonic representation at matching resolution, and from there in the modelling of induced gravity perturbations. We have therefore estimated spherical Bouguer and Airy isostatic anomalies whose spherical harmonic models are derived from the Earth’s topography harmonic expansion. These spherical anomalies differ from the classical planar ones and may be used in the context of new applications. We succeeded in meeting a number of challenges to build spherical harmonic models with no theoretical limitation on the resolution. A specific algorithm was developed to enable the computation of associated Legendre functions to any degree and order. It was successfully tested up to degree 32,400. All analyses and syntheses were performed, in 64 bits arithmetic and with semi-empirical control of the significant terms to prevent from calculus underflows and overflows, according to IEEE limitations, also in preserving the speed of a specific regular grid processing scheme. Finally, the continuation from the reference ellipsoid’s surface to the Earth’s surface was performed by high-order Taylor expansion with all grids of required partial derivatives being computed in parallel. The main application was the production of a 1′ × 1′ equiangular global Bouguer anomaly grid which was computed by spherical harmonic analysis of the Earth’s topography–bathymetry ETOPO1 data set up to degree and order 10,800, taking into account the precise boundaries and densities of major lakes and inner seas, with their own altitude, polar caps with bedrock information, and land areas below sea level. The harmonic coefficients for each entity were derived by analyzing the corresponding ETOPO1 part, and free surface data when required, at one arc minute resolution. The following approximations were made: the land, ocean and ice cap gravity spherical harmonic coefficients were computed up to the third degree of the altitude, and the harmonics of the other, smaller parts up to the second degree. Their sum constitutes what we call ETOPG1, the Earth’s TOPography derived Gravity model at 1′ resolution (half-wavelength). The EGM2008 gravity field model and ETOPG1 were then used to rigorously compute 1′ × 1′ point values of surface gravity anomalies and disturbances, respectively, worldwide, at the real Earth’s surface, i.e. at the lower limit of the atmosphere. The disturbance grid is the most interesting product of this study and can be used in various contexts. The surface gravity anomaly grid is an accurate product associated with EGM2008 and ETOPO1, but its gravity information contents are those of EGM2008. Our method was validated by comparison with a direct numerical integration approach applied to a test area in Morocco–South of Spain (Kuhn, private communication 2011) and the agreement was satisfactory. Finally isostatic corrections according to the Airy model, but in spherical geometry, with harmonic coefficients derived from the sets of the ETOPO1 different parts, were computed with a uniform depth of compensation of 30?km. The new world Bouguer and isostatic gravity maps and grids here produced will be made available through the Commission for the Geological Map of the World. Since gravity values are those of the EGM2008 model, geophysical interpretation from these products should not be done for spatial scales below 5 arc minutes (half-wavelength).     

对应各类重力场边值的调和性扰动场源解

从实际应用的需要出发，本文对现代物理大地测量学及地球物理学研究中日益关注的高和性扰动场源问题的求解模式进行了推演和分析。建立起在边界条件分别为扰动位、扰动重力、重力异常以及其中两类以上同时作为边界输入的情况下，对应的调和性扰动场源的球谐函数表达式及封闭解式。进而对调和性扰动场源在物理大地测量及地球物理中应用的有关问题进行了评注。     

重力异常阶方差模型精度及其截断误差分析

在评估重力场模型计算空间扰动引力精度时,对模型截断误差常采用阶方差方法。文中将6种经典的重力异常阶方差模型与现有超高阶重力场模型的阶方差进行比较,TSD模型与重力场模型的差值最小。根据重力异常阶方差模型TSD,文中分析不同高度、不同阶次利用重力场模型计算空中扰动引力时截断误差的影响。实验结果表明:36阶模型截断误差最大径向和水平方向分别为26.455 1mGal、25.946 3mGal;360阶模型截断误差最大径向和水平方向分别为9.969 0mGal、9.960 9 mGal;2160阶模型截断误差最大径向和水平方向分别为2.538 5 mGal、2.538 1mGal;2160阶模型计算空中扰动引力时,即使在低空附近,截断误差在2.5mGal以内,计算高度超过5km,截断误差可以忽略;超过400km的高度,都可以用36阶模型计算,截断误差在1mGal以内。     

Combining EGM2008 and SRTM/DTM2006.0 residual terrain model data to improve quasigeoid computations in mountainous areas devoid of gravity data

A global geopotential model, like EGM2008, is not capable of representing the high-frequency components of Earth’s gravity field. This is known as the omission error. In mountainous terrain, omission errors in EGM2008, even when expanded to degree 2,190, may reach amplitudes of 10 cm and more for height anomalies. The present paper proposes the utilisation of high-resolution residual terrain model (RTM) data for computing estimates of the omission error in rugged terrain. RTM elevations may be constructed as the difference between the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation model and the DTM2006.0 spherical harmonic topographic expansion. Numerical tests, carried out in the German Alps with a precise gravimetric quasigeoid model (GCG05) and GPS/levelling data as references, demonstrate that RTM-based omission error estimates improve EGM2008 height anomaly differences by 10 cm in many cases. The comparisons of EGM2008-only height anomalies and the GCG05 model showed 3.7 cm standard deviation after a bias-fit. Applying RTM omission error estimates to EGM2008 reduces the standard deviation to 1.9 cm which equates to a significant improvement rate of 47%. Using GPS/levelling data strongly corroborates these findings with an improvement rate of 49%. The proposed RTM approach may be of practical value to improve quasigeoid determination in mountainous areas without sufficient regional gravity data coverage, e.g., in parts of Asia, South America or Africa. As a further application, RTM omission error estimates will allow refined validation of global gravity field models like EGM2008 from GPS/levelling data.     

The geodetic approximations in the conversion of geoid height to gravity anomaly by Fourier transform

Six sources of error in the use of Fourier methods for the conversion of geoid heights to gravity anomalies are considered. The errors due to spherical approximation are unimportant. The errors due to approximations in Stokes' integral may be eliminated by use of the gravity coating rather than the gravity anomaly. The chord-to-arc error and the truncation error may be reduced by using a reference field. Tapering of the edges of the measurement window reduces the truncation error. The long-wavelength components of the high degree spherical harmonics cause small offsets in the resulting gravity anomalies. The errors due to the plane approximation can be reduced by appropriate choice of map projection and area of integration.     

基于球冠滑动平均的球面重力异常分离方法

将传统直角坐标系中的滑动平均方法(包括圆周法与网格法)运用到球面重力异常分离中。模型实验及实际应用均表明,该方法优于直接截断重力场模型阶次分离异常的方法,能够更好地反映实际地质情况,不仅适用于全球区域也适用于局部区域。     

A method of evaluating the truncation error coefficients for geoidal height

Neglecting distant zones in the computation of geoidal height using Stokes' formula gives rise to some truncation error. This truncation error is expressible as a weighted summation of the zonal harmonic components of the gravity anomaly. Making use of the well-known properties of Legendre polynomials, a compact method of computing these theoretical coefficients has been developed in this paper.     

Efficient and accurate high-degree spherical harmonic synthesis of gravity field functionals at the Earth’s surface using the gradient approach

Spherical harmonic synthesis (SHS) of gravity field functionals at the Earth’s surface requires the use of heights. The present study investigates the gradient approach as an efficient yet accurate strategy to incorporate height information in SHS at densely spaced multiple points. Taylor series expansions of commonly used functionals quasigeoid heights, gravity disturbances and vertical deflections are formulated, and expressions of their radial derivatives are presented to arbitrary order. Numerical tests show that first-order gradients, as introduced by Rapp (J Geod 71(5):282–289, 1997) for degree 360 models, produce cm- to dm-level RMS approximation errors over rugged terrain when applied with EGM2008 to degree 2190. Instead, higher-order Taylor expansions are recommended that are capable of reducing approximation errors to insignificance for practical applications. Because the height information is separated from the actual synthesis, the gradient approach can be applied along with existing highly efficient SHS routines to compute surface functionals at arbitrarily dense grid points. This confers considerable computational savings (above or well above one order of magnitude) over conventional point-by-point SHS. As an application example, an ultra-high resolution model of surface gravity functionals (EurAlpGM2011) is constructed over the entire European Alps that incorporates height information in the SHS at 12,000,000 surface points. Based on EGM2008 and residual topography data, quasigeoid heights, gravity disturbances and vertical deflections are estimated at ~200m resolution. As a conclusion, the gradient approach is efficient and accurate for high-degree SHS at multiple points at the Earth’s surface.     

Relation between geoidal undulation, deflection of the vertical and vertical gravity gradient revisited

The vertical gradients of gravity anomaly and gravity disturbance can be related to horizontal first derivatives of deflection of the vertical or second derivatives of geoidal undulations. These are simplified relations of which different variations have found application in satellite altimetry with the implicit assumption that the neglected terms—using remove-restore—are sufficiently small. In this paper, the different simplified relations are rigorously connected and the neglected terms are made explicit. The main neglected terms are a curvilinear term that accounts for the difference between second derivatives in a Cartesian system and on a spherical surface, and a small circle term that stems from the difference between second derivatives on a great and small circle. The neglected terms were compared with the dynamic ocean topography (DOT) and the requirements on the GOCE gravity gradients. In addition, the signal root-mean-square (RMS) of the neglected terms and vertical gravity gradient were compared, and the effect of a remove-restore procedure was studied. These analyses show that both neglected terms have the same order of magnitude as the DOT gradient signal and may be above the GOCE requirements, and should be accounted for when combining altimetry derived and GOCE measured gradients. The signal RMS of both neglected terms is in general small when compared with the signal RMS of the vertical gravity gradient, but they may introduce gradient errors above the spherical approximation error. Remove-restore with gravity field models reduces the errors in the vertical gravity gradient, but it appears that errors above the spherical approximation error cannot be avoided at individual locations. When computing the vertical gradient of gravity anomaly from satellite altimeter data using deflections of the vertical, the small circle term is readily available and can be included. The direct computation of the vertical gradient of gravity disturbance from satellite altimeter data is more difficult than the computation of the vertical gradient of gravity anomaly because in the former case the curvilinear term is needed, which is not readily available.     

Gravity field determination from satellite gradiometry

An orbiting gradiometer measures simultaneously several gravity quantities, ideally all six second-order derivatives of the gravitational potential. These contain information on the orbit, on the structure of the gravity field, and on the attitude of the space-craft. Due to the availability of several components simultaneously it is possible to separate orbit determination from attitude or gravity field recovery. This facilitates the analysis of the gradiometer measurements and allows the use of the principles of fast spherical harmonic analysis. The separation of gravity field recovery and orbit determination is tested numerically with a simplified gravity field (with a purely zonal spherical harmonic expansion) up to degree 300. For both the potential coefficients and for the orbit an almost exact recovery is attained after two iteration steps.     

虚拟压缩恢复法在物理大地测量学中的应用(英文)

The fictitious compress recovery approach is introduced, which could be applied to the establishment of the Rungerarup theorem, the determination of the Bjerhammar＇s fictitious gravity anomaly, the solution of the ＂downward con- tinuation＂ problem of the gravity field, the confirmation of the convergence of the spherical harmonic expansion series of the Earth＇s potential field, and the gravity field determination in three cases： gravitational potential case, gravitation case, and gravitational gradient case. Several tests using simulation experiments show that the fictitious compress recovery approach shows promise in physical geodesy applications.     

A data-driven approach to local gravity field modelling using spherical radial basis functions

We propose a methodology for local gravity field modelling from gravity data using spherical radial basis functions. The methodology comprises two steps: in step 1, gravity data (gravity anomalies and/or gravity disturbances) are used to estimate the disturbing potential using least-squares techniques. The latter is represented as a linear combination of spherical radial basis functions (SRBFs). A data-adaptive strategy is used to select the optimal number, location, and depths of the SRBFs using generalized cross validation. Variance component estimation is used to determine the optimal regularization parameter and to properly weight the different data sets. In the second step, the gravimetric height anomalies are combined with observed differences between global positioning system (GPS) ellipsoidal heights and normal heights. The data combination is written as the solution of a Cauchy boundary-value problem for the Laplace equation. This allows removal of the non-uniqueness of the problem of local gravity field modelling from terrestrial gravity data. At the same time, existing systematic distortions in the gravimetric and geometric height anomalies are also absorbed into the combination. The approach is used to compute a height reference surface for the Netherlands. The solution is compared with NLGEO2004, the official Dutch height reference surface, which has been computed using the same data but a Stokes-based approach with kernel modification and a geometric six-parameter “corrector surface” to fit the gravimetric solution to the GPS-levelling points. A direct comparison of both height reference surfaces shows an RMS difference of 0.6 cm; the maximum difference is 2.1 cm. A test at independent GPS-levelling control points, confirms that our solution is in no way inferior to NLGEO2004.     

The gains of small circular,square and rectangular filters for surface waves on a sphere

Meissl has derived weighting functions for converting point gravity anomaly degree variances into mean anomaly variances over a circular cap on a sphere. If the cap is sufficiently small so that the cap on a sphere degenerates into a circle on a plane, the problem may be considered that of the gain of a circular filter for a surface wave whose wave number depends on the spherical harmonic degree. The Meissl weights then become replaced by diffraction integrals of optical physics. The expected gain for a square filter for waves coming from random directions is derived and shown to be close to the gain of a circular filter with the same area. The expected gains and cross-gains for rectangular filters are also derived. When weighted by an anomaly degree variance model, these gains and cross-gains can be used to determine rectangular anomaly variances and covariances for arbitrary bandwidths. Using the Tscherning-Rapp model, analytic gravity anomaly variances and covariances are calculated for 1°×1° blocks.     

基于球谐函数的重力异常和垂线偏差误差匹配关系

重力异常和垂线偏差是测高卫星非常重要的产品。二者的精度指标对于未来的测高卫星方案设计至关重要。本文利用球谐函数来对重力异常和垂线偏差的精度指标进行讨论,首先从理论上推导了重力异常和垂线偏差误差的近似匹配关系,然后通过6个超高阶重力场模型验证了有关结论的正确性。数值试验表明:垂线偏差误差和重力异常误差满足近似的比例关系,即若垂线偏差各方位向等精度测量,且假定精度均为1μrad,则所对应的重力异常精度约为1.4mGal;反之,若重力异常的精度为1mGal,则所对应的垂线偏差的精度约为0.7μrad。     

格尔木市高精度数字高程基准模型研究

大地水准面（数字高程基准）为国家高程基准的建立与维持提供了全新的思路。然而,受限于地形、重力数据等原因,高原地区高精度数字高程基准模型的建立一直是大地测量领域的难题。本文以格尔木地区为例,探讨了高原地区高精度数字高程基准模型的建立方法。首先,基于重力和地形数据,由第二类Helmert凝集法计算了格尔木重力似大地水准面。在计算中,考虑到高原地形对大地水准面模型的影响,采用了7.5″×7.5″分辨率和高精度的地形数据来恢复大地水准面短波部分的方法,以提高似大地水准面的精度。然后,利用球冠谐调和分析方法将GNSS水准与重力似大地水准面联合,建立了格尔木高精度数字高程基准模型。与实测的67个高精度GNSS水准资料比较,重力似大地水准面的外符合精度为3.0 cm,数字高程基准模型的内符合精度为2.0 cm。