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Comparison of the performances of different spring and superconducting gravimeters and STS-2 seismometer at the Gravimetric Observatory of Strasbourg, France

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Abstract

Since 1973, the Gravimetric Observatory of Strasbourg (France) is located in an old fort named J9 and has been the place for various gravity experiments. We present a comparison of the noise levels of various instruments that are or were continuously recording at J9, including the LaCoste&Romberg Earth-Tide Meter ET-5 (1973–1985), the GWR Superconducting Gravimeter TT-T005 (1987–1996), the Superconducting Gravimeter C026 (since 1996), the STS-2 seismometer (since 2010) and the LaCoste&Romberg ET-11 (continuously since October 2010). Besides these instruments, the J9 Observatory has hosted temporary gravity experiments with the Micro-g LaCoste Inc. gPhone-054 (May–December 2008 and May–September 2009) and the Micro-g LaCoste Inc. Graviton-EG1194 (June–October 2011). We include also in the comparison the absolute gravimeter Micro-g FG5 #206 which is regularly performing absolute gravity measurements at J9 since 1997 and a spring gravimeter Scintrex CG5 which recorded at J9 between March 2009 and February 2010. We present the performances of these various instruments in terms of noise levels using a standardized procedure based on the computation of the residual power spectral densities over a quiet time period. The different responses to atmospheric pressure changes of all the instruments are also investigated. A final part is devoted to the instrumental self-noise of the SG C026, STS-2 and L&R ET-11 using the three channel correlation analysis method applied to 1-Hz data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516, Université de Strasbourg/EOST, CNRS, 5 rue Descartes, 67084, Strasbourg Cedex, France

    Severine Rosat, Marta Calvo & Jacques Hinderer

  2. Observatorio Geofísico Central, Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), Madrid, Spain

    Marta Calvo

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse (DiSTAR), Università Federico II di Napoli, Naples, Italy

    Umberto Riccardi

  4. Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM), Madrid, Spain

    Jose Arnoso

  5. Black Forest Observatory of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and University of Stuttgart, Heubach 206, D-77709, Wolfach, Germany

    Walter Zürn

Authors
  1. Severine Rosat
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  2. Marta Calvo
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  3. Jacques Hinderer
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  4. Umberto Riccardi
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  5. Jose Arnoso
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  6. Walter Zürn
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Correspondence to Severine Rosat.

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Rosat, S., Calvo, M., Hinderer, J. et al. Comparison of the performances of different spring and superconducting gravimeters and STS-2 seismometer at the Gravimetric Observatory of Strasbourg, France. Stud Geophys Geod 59, 58–82 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-014-0830-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-014-0830-5

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