Far-zone gravity field contributions corrected for the effect of topography by means of molodensky’s truncation coefficients

A spectral representation of the topographic corrections to gravity field quantities is formulated in terms of spherical height functions. When computing the far-zone contributions to the topographic corrections, various types of the truncation coefficients are applied to a spectral representation of Newton’s integral. In this study we utilise Molodensky’s truncation coefficients in deriving the expressions for the far-zone contributions to topographic corrections. The expressions for computing the far-zone gravity field contributions corrected for the effect of topography are then obtained by combining the expressions for the far-zone contributions to the gravity field quantities and to the respective topographic corrections, both expressed in terms of Molodensky’s truncation coefficients. The numerical examples of the far-zone contributions to the topographic corrections and to the topography-corrected gravity field quantities are given over the study area situated in the Canadian Rocky Mountains with adjacent planes. Coefficients of the global elevation and geopotential models are used as the input data.     

基于变差函数的插值方法计算华北地区重力场变化

定点重复重力测量是获取区域重力场变化的主要手段之一, 重力场特征与地形起伏、 构造走向等因素相关。 以华北地区为例, 考虑区域内地形和构造的北东向分布规律, 从EGM2008重力模型中拟合各向异性变差函数参数, 利用变差函数网格化插值, 对华北地区2009—2013年期间重力场观测数据进行网格化重建, 获取华北地区重力场时空变化结果。 研究结果表明基于区域地形、 构造特征的各向异性变差函数插值方法, 获得的空间重力场变化在重力异常梯级带上更加明显, 重力变化与活动构造分布具有更好的一致性。 本文研究方法对于恢复区域时空重力场异常具有重要意义, 有助于提高应用重力资料划分潜在地震危险区空间位置的精度, 为华北地区震情研判和构建地震预报定量指标体系提供可靠的地球物理场数据。     

Comparison of two approaches for considering laterally varying density in topographic effect on satellite gravity gradiometric data

The satellite gravity gradiometric data are influenced by laterally varying density in topographic masses, while in most of studies a constant density for the masses was considered. This assumption causes an error in estimating the topographic effect. This paper theoretically and numerically investigates the methods of Sjöberg as well as Novák and Grafarend to consider the laterally varying density for topographic masses in formulation of topographic potential in spherical harmonics.     

Some Insights into Topographic,Elastic and Self-gravitation Interaction in Modelling Ground Deformation and Gravity Changes in Active Volcanic Areas

Surface displacements and gravity changes due to volcanic sources are influenced by medium properties. We investigate topographic, elastic and self-gravitation interaction in order to outline the major factors that are significant in data modelling. While elastic-gravitational models can provide a suitable approximation to problems of volcanic loading in areas where topographic relief is negligible, for prominent volcanoes the rough topography could affect deformation and gravity changes to a greater extent than self-gravitation. This fact requires the selection, depending on local relief, of a suitable model for use in the interpretation of surface precursors of volcanic activity. We use the three-dimensional Indirect Boundary Element Method to examine the effects of topography on deformation and gravity changes in models of magma chamber inflation/deflation. Topography has a significant effect on predicted surface deformation and gravity changes. Both the magnitude and pattern of the geodetic signals are significantly different compared to half-space solutions. Thus, failure to account for topographic effects in areas of prominent relief can bias the estimate of volcanic source parameters, since the magnitude and pattern of deformation and gravity changes depend on such effects.     

A geoid solution for airborne gravity data

Airborne gravity data is usually attached with satellite positioning of data points, which allow for the direct determination of the gravity disturbance at flight level. Assuming a suitable gridding of such data, Hotine’s modified integral formula can be combined with an Earth Gravity Model for the computation of the disturbing potential (T) at flight level. Based on T and the gravity disturbance data, we directly downward continue T to the geoid, and we present the final solution for the geoid height, including topographic corrections. It can be proved that the Taylor expansion of T converges if the flight level is at least twice the height of the topography, and the terrain potential will not contribute to the topographic correction. Hence, the simple topographic bias of the Bouguer shell yields the only topographic correction. Some numerical results demonstrate the technique used for downward continuation and topographic correction.     

Spectral assessment of isostatic gravity models against CHAMP,GRACE, GOCE satellite-only and combined gravity models

The availability of digital elevation databases representing the topographic and bathymetric relief with global homogeneous coverage and increasing resolution permits the computation of crust-related Earth gravity models, the so-called topographic/isostatic Earth gravity models (henceforth T/I models). Although expressing the spherical harmonic content of the topographic masses, the interpretation purpose of T/I models has not been given the attention it deserves, apart from the fact that they express some degree of compensation to the observed spectrum of the topographic heights, depending on the kind of the applied compensation mechanism. The present contribution attempts to improve the interpretation aspects of T/I Earth gravity models. To this end, a rigorous spectral assessment is performed to a standard Airy/Heiskanen T/I model against different CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP), Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Gravity field and steadystate Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite-only, and combined gravity models. Different correlation bandwidths emerge for these four groups of satellite-based gravity models. The band-limited forward computation of the models using these bandwidths reproduces nicely the main features of the applied T/I model.     

Global ellipsoid-referenced topographic,bathymetric and stripping corrections to gravity disturbance

This paper revisits several aspects of defining and computing the anomalous gravity data for purposes of gravimetric inversion/interpretation. Attention is paid to evaluation of a refined global topographic correction to the gravity disturbance based on the reference ellipsoid (RE) and constant reference density for solid topography onshore and sea water density for liquid topography offshore. The global bathymetric correction is discussed. Two issues associated with compilation and inversion of bathymetrically and topographically corrected gravity disturbances in regions of negative ellipsoidal (geodetic) heights are pointed out: the evaluation of normal gravity and the harmonic continuation of the gravity data. Stripping, the removal of an effect of a known density contrast, is considered also for additional geological elements such as lakes, glaciers, sedimentary basins, isostatic mountain roots, etc. The stripping corrections are discussed in the context of the gravimetric inverse problem.     

外空扰动引力场的传播特性

根据重力场的频谱理论,本文建立了重力异常阶方差的经验模型,并导出了外空扰动引力场与地面数据分辨率及其覆盖范围之间的关系,从理论上研究和揭示了各种地形类别下外空场的传播特性。为验证理论分析结果,还应用重力异常逐级余差方法,以实际资料计算并分析了外空扰动引力场的传播特性。结果表明,理论分析和实际计算得到的结论完全一致。     

Layer-Based Modelling of the Earth’s Gravitational Potential up to 10-km Scale in Spherical Harmonics in Spherical and Ellipsoidal Approximation

Global forward modelling of the Earth’s gravitational potential, a classical problem in geophysics and geodesy, is relevant for a range of applications such as gravity interpretation, isostatic hypothesis testing or combined gravity field modelling with high and ultra-high resolution. This study presents spectral forward modelling with volumetric mass layers to degree 2190 for the first time based on two different levels of approximation. In spherical approximation, the mass layers are referred to a sphere, yielding the spherical topographic potential. In ellipsoidal approximation where an ellipsoid of revolution provides the reference, the ellipsoidal topographic potential (ETP) is obtained. For both types of approximation, we derive a mass layer concept and study it with layered data from the Earth2014 topography model at 5-arc-min resolution. We show that the layer concept can be applied with either actual layer density or density contrasts w.r.t. a reference density, without discernible differences in the computed gravity functionals. To avoid aliasing and truncation errors, we carefully account for increased sampling requirements due to the exponentiation of the boundary functions and consider all numerically relevant terms of the involved binominal series expansions. The main outcome of our work is a set of new spectral models of the Earth’s topographic potential relying on mass layer modelling in spherical and in ellipsoidal approximation. We compare both levels of approximations geometrically, spectrally and numerically and quantify the benefits over the frequently used rock-equivalent topography (RET) method. We show that by using the ETP it is possible to avoid any displacement of masses and quantify also the benefit of mapping-free modelling. The layer-based forward modelling is corroborated by GOCE satellite gradiometry, by in-situ gravity observations from recently released Antarctic gravity anomaly grids and degree correlations with spectral models of the Earth’s observed geopotential. As the main conclusion of this work, the mass layer approach allows more accurate modelling of the topographic potential because it avoids 10–20-mGal approximation errors associated with RET techniques. The spherical approximation is suited for a range of geophysical applications, while the ellipsoidal approximation is preferable for applications requiring high accuracy or high resolution.     

The gravity signatures of isostatic,thermally-expanded ridge crests

The gravity anomaly has been computed above isostatic, thermally-balanced speading centers that cool by conduction through their top surfaces. Isothermal, and therefore isodense, surfaces were treated as topographic boundaries between layers of different density, and Fourier transforms of power series of the topographic height were used to find the gravity. Convergence requires that the anomaly tend to zero with increasing distance from the ridge crest, and when this is obtained, a crestal positive anomaly is flanked by compensating negatives. Both the magnitude and the spatial width of the anomalies decrease with increasing spreading rate.The ～5 mgal gravity anomalies observed over fast-spreading ridges are matched well by the calculations, but slow-spreading ridges usually have a central rift valley in place of the smooth crest of the idealized isostatic thermal model. The mass deficiency of the valley cancels out the ～40 mgal positive peak that would otherwise occur. The short-wavelength anomaly amplitudes of such ridges are less than 25 mgal and follow the observed local rift valley and flanking ridge topography closely. Excess positive gravity and topography of the flanking ridges suggests compensation of the mass deficiency in the rift valley. However, long-wavelength gravity anomalies such as those observed in the northern Mid-Atlantic cannot be due to topography that is isostatically compensated at a shallow depth. These must be caused either by dynamic forces or by large-scale density differences compensated at much greater depths.     

TOPOGRAPHIC REDUCTION OF GRAVITY MEASUREMENTS BY NUMERICAL INTEGRATION OF BOUNDARY INTEGRALS*

A numerical method for calculating the topographic reduction of gravity measurements is developed which follows the approximation of the topography by a single valued function. The method involves the conversion of the volume integral for the gravity effect into a two-dimensional definite integral. The definite integral is partly solved by explicit, and partly by numerical, integration, using the Gauss-Legendre quadrature formula. This method is well suited to calculating the topographic reduction of 50 to approximately 1000 m from the station–especially for microgravimetric surveys in areas of steeply sloping terrain. To test the method in practice it was applied in an area of rough relief in Keban (East Turkey).     

A refined conversion from normal height to orthometric height

The difference between orthometric and normal heights (or the height anomaly and the geoid height) is usually approximated by a term consisting of the Bouguer anomaly times elevation divided by normal gravity. We derive an improved formula, which includes a topographic roughness term (terrain correction) and a term due to the lateral variation of topographic density, for the practical application of this conversion. It is shown that for high mountainous areas with rough topography these two terms are of the same order as the Bouguer anomaly related term. Already for elevations of a few hundred metres they could reach the order of a centimetre. In addition, for the more precise computations in high mountainous areas, a term related with the downward continuation of topographic potential from the surface to sea level could be significant.     

On High-Frequency Topography-Implied Gravity Signals for a Height System Unification Using GOCE-Based Global Geopotential Models

National height reference systems have conventionally been linked to the local mean sea level, observed at individual tide gauges. Due to variations in the sea surface topography, the reference levels of these systems are inconsistent, causing height datum offsets of up to ±1–2 m. For the unification of height systems, a satellite-based method is presented that utilizes global geopotential models (GGMs) derived from ESA’s satellite mission Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE). In this context, height datum offsets are estimated within a least squares adjustment by comparing the GGM information with measured GNSS/leveling data. While the GNSS/leveling data comprises the full spectral information, GOCE GGMs are restricted to long wavelengths according to the maximum degree of their spherical harmonic representation. To provide accurate height datum offsets, it is indispensable to account for the remaining signal above this maximum degree, known as the omission error of the GGM. Therefore, a combination of the GOCE information with the high-resolution Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008) is performed. The main contribution of this paper is to analyze the benefit, when high-frequency topography-implied gravity signals are additionally used to reduce the remaining omission error of EGM2008. In terms of a spectral extension, a new method is proposed that does not rely on an assumed spectral consistency of topographic heights and implied gravity as is the case for the residual terrain modeling (RTM) technique. In the first step of this new approach, gravity forward modeling based on tesseroid mass bodies is performed according to the Rock–Water–Ice (RWI) approach. In a second step, the resulting full spectral RWI-based topographic potential values are reduced by the effect of the topographic gravity field model RWI_TOPO_2015, thus, removing the long to medium wavelengths. By using the latest GOCE GGMs, the impact of topography-implied gravity signals on the estimation of height datum offsets is analyzed in detail for representative GNSS/leveling data sets in Germany, Austria, and Brazil. Besides considerable changes in the estimated offset of up to 3 cm, the conducted analyses show that significant improvements of 30–40% can be achieved in terms of a reduced standard deviation and range of the least squares adjusted residuals.     

起伏地形条件下流动重力数据处理方法研究

以地震监测为目的流动重力重复测量获取的重力年变信号通常在十几到几十微伽量级.但由于重力测点所处的地形高程不同,将空间测点直接插值得到的重力异常空间图像会叠加由于地形起伏引起的异常畸变.本文通过6面体模型定量计算了不同规模和埋深场源的地形效应;对青藏高原东缘地区测网的重力观测数据进行了分析处理,并通过位场曲面延拓校正技术消除了地形影响.结果表明,位场曲面延拓校正技术可以有效地改善重力数据质量,有利于更准确地圈定和认识异常的空间形态特征.     

Near-station topographic masses correction for high-accuracy gravimetric prospecting

The expanding role of gravity prospecting in mineral and hydrocarbon exploration as well as seismic and volcanic risk studies will be related to its ability to provide high-resolution anomalies. To achieve this goal it is necessary to consider the errors resulting from the topographic corrections, in particular near-station effects. Such errors are relevant not only for severe topographies but also for relatively flat surfaces involving microgravity applications and large-scale surveys.
Indeed, the errors introduced by low-resolution digital elevation models can be of the same order of magnitude as the anomalies of interest. This basic fact is demonstrated by tests on synthetic models. The results of this analysis are summarized in an intuitive graph that can be used to estimate what near-station topographic resolution is necessary for a specific survey. For the Vulcano Island test site (in Southern Italy), we also compare results obtained using three different representations of the topographic surface with different horizontal resolutions and vertical precisions: one from existing photogrammetric data, the second from a digitized map and the third from a very high-resolution laser scanning system. Among the three methods, laser scanning is shown to obtain the highest resolution topographic reconstructions in the shortest time. Some weaknesses of the laser scanning methodology are discussed and we suggest ways of overcoming them.     

The geoid-to-quasigeoid difference using an arbitrary gravity reduction model

Recently it was proved that the classical formula for computing the geoid to quasigeoid separation (GQS) by the Bouguer gravity anomaly needs a topographic correction. Here we generalize the modelling of the GQS not only to Bouguer types of anomalies, but also to arbitrary reductions of topographic gravity. Of particular interest for practical applications should be isostatic and Helmert types of reductions, which provide smaller and smoother components, more suitable for interpolation and calculation, than the Bouguer reduction.     

Gravity evidence for an extinct magma chamber beneath Syrtis Major, Mars: a look at the magmatic plumbing system

Syrtis Major is an ancient basaltic shield volcano on Mars with a basal diameter of 1100 km. The free-air gravity anomaly is 126 mGal at spherical harmonic degree 50 and reaches its maximum amplitude over the 2 km deep topographic caldera. The observed gravity anomaly cannot be explained by flexurally supported surface topography and requires the presence of a buried, high-density load. The geologically most reasonable interpretation of this high-density load is that it represents the magma chamber of Syrtis Major, now solidified and filled at least in part by dense igneous cumulates. Pyroxene is likely to be the dominant cumulate mineral in this system, although olivine may also be present. Gravity models presented here define the structure of the buried load and in essence provide a look at the magmatic plumbing system of this volcano. The preferred model involves a buried load that is approximately 300×600 km across, roughly twice as large as the topographic caldera. Both the buried load and the caldera are elongated in the north-south direction. In the center of the buried load, the minimum thickness is 2.8 km for an olivine-dominated cumulate system or 3.9 km for a pyroxene-dominated system. The best terrestrial analog for this structure is the Bushveld Complex, an igneous cumulate body that is similar in size and thickness to the Syrtis Major structure. Assuming that the mean crustal density is 2600 kg m⁻³ due to impact brecciation, the elastic lithosphere at Syrtis Major was 10-15 km thick at the time when the topographic load was emplaced. This corresponds to a lithospheric thermal gradient of 28-52 K/km and a surface heat flux of 70-130 mW m⁻². Higher resolution gravity data, such as that which is planned for the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, will permit further refinement of the dimensions of this structure.     

Topographic and atmospheric effects on goce gradiometric data in a local north-oriented frame: A case study in Fennoscandia and Iran

Satellite gradiometry is an observation technique providing data that allow for evaluation of Stokes’ (geopotential) coefficients. This technique is capable of determining higher degrees/orders of the geopotential coefficients than can be achieved by traditional dynamic satellite geodesy. The satellite gradiometry data include topographic and atmospheric effects. By removing those effects, the satellite data becomes smoother and harmonic outside sea level and therefore more suitable for downward continuation to the Earth’s surface. For example, in this way one may determine a set of spherical harmonics of the gravity field that is harmonic in the exterior to sea level. This article deals with the above effects on the satellite gravity gradients in the local north-oriented frame. The conventional expressions of the gradients in this frame have a rather complicated form, depending on the first-and second-order derivatives of the associated Legendre functions, which contain singular factors when approaching the poles. On the contrary, we express the harmonic series of atmospheric and topographic effects as non-singular expressions. The theory is applied to the regions of Fennoscandia and Iran, where maps of such effects and their statistics are presented and discussed.