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Development of Sudan gravity field by combining local and global data

  • 3rd CAJG 2020
  • Published:
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Abstract

The legacy of Sudan gravity data was extensively collected over 15 years for oil exploration after small-scale gravity campaigns designated for groundwater investigations. However, the acquired gravity data sets were very sparse due to the large area of the country (Sudan and South Sudan). This study conducts an intensive procedure to refine and reconstruct the local gravity grid by selecting an appropriate geopotential model (GGM) to fill the gaps of un-surveyed areas. The digital elevation model is used to smooth the terrestrial gravity and reduce the gross error using the cross-validation technique. The best-fit agreement utilizing the standard deviation (SD) between the tested GGMs and ground data varies from a model to another. Three models, namely EGM2008, EIGEN-6C4, and XGM2019e, have close agreements with the ground data (8.35 to 8.77 mGals), while GOCO05C yields 10.75 mGal. XGM2019e has the lowest SD detected at d/o 760, and the satellite altimetry data are used over the Red Sea marine area. Investigations, comparisons, and spectral analysis are demonstrated to select the most suitable geopotential model to improve the Sudan gravity field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for GeoInformatics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Ahmed Abdalla

  2. Department of Surveying Engineering, University of Khartoum, P.O Box 321, Khartoum, Sudan

    Ahmed Abdalla

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  1. Ahmed Abdalla
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Correspondence to Ahmed Abdalla.

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This paper was selected from the 3rd Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG), Tunisia 2020

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Abdalla, A. Development of Sudan gravity field by combining local and global data. Arab J Geosci 14, 2115 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08450-z

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