Abstract
This paper presents a survey of recent work on the gravimetric geoid. The gravity models considered are those published in the past few years by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Ohio State University (OSU). Comparisons and analyses have been carried out through the ose of detailed gravimetric geoids which we have computed by combining the above-mentioned models with a set of 26 000, 1ox1o mean free air gravity anomalies. The accuracy of the detailed gravimetric geoid computed using the most recent Goddard Earth Model (GEM-6) in conjunction with the set 1ox1o mean free air gravity anomalies is assessed at 2 m on the continents of North America, Europe And Australia, 2 to 5 m in the North-East Pacific and North Atlantic areas and 5 to 10 m in other areas where surface gravity data are sparse. Rms differences between this detailed geoid and the detailed geoids computed using the other satellite gravity fields in conjunction with same set of surface data range from 3 to 7 m. The maximum differences in all cases occurred in the Southern Hemisphere where surface data and satellite observations are sparse. These differences exhibited wavelengths of approximately 30o to 50o in longitude. Detailed geoidal heights were also computed with models truncated to 12th degree and order as well as 8th degree and order. This truncation resulted in a reduction of the rms differences to a maximum of 5 m. Comparisons have been made with the astrogeodetic data of Rice (United States), Bomford (Europe), and Mather (Australia) and also with geoidal heights from satellite solutions for geocentric station coordinates in North America and the Caribbean.
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Marsh, J.G., Vincent, S. Global detailed geoid computation and model analysis. Geophysical Surveys 1, 481–511 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01452250
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01452250