Summary
The signal content in the low-low SST observables of the gravity field twin-satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) varies in the space domain depending on the roughness of the gravity field features. On the one hand, the maximum degree of the spherical harmonic expansion has to be selected as high as possible to bring out the maximum of gravity field information out of the data. On the other hand, an increasing maximal degree deteriorates the stability of the normal equations to solve for the gravity field parameters. Therefore, a trade-off is necessary between the selection of a maximal degree adequate for representing the signal content in the observables, on the one hand, and a maximal degree which can still be recovered without causing instabilities, on the other hand. We propose to integrate the global gravity field recovery with regional gravity field refinements tailored to the specific gravity field features in these regions: In a first step, the gravity field only up to a moderate safely determinable degree is recovered; the specific analysis features tailored to the individual gravity field characteristics in areas of rough gravity field signal will be modelled subsequently by space localizing base functions in a second step. In a final third step, a spherical harmonic expansion up to an (in principle) arbitrary degree can be derived based on a numerical Gauss — Legendre - quadrature procedure without any stability problems. The procedure will be applied in a first example to observations of a GRACE simulation scenario to test the potential capabilities of the approach. A second application demonstrates the determination of a global gravity field model and regional refinements based on low-low SST data of the GRACE twin satellite mission for the August 2003 observations.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Key words
References
Eicker A, Mayer-Gürr T, Ilk, KH (2005) An integrated global/regional gravity field determination approach based on GOCE observations, this volume
Förste C, Flechtner F, Schmidt R, Meyer U, Stubenvoll R, Barthelmes F, Neumayer KH, Rothacher M, Reigber C, Biancale R, Bruinsma S, Lemoine JM, Raimondo JC (2005) A New High Resolution Global Gravity Field Model Derived From Combination of GRACE and CHAMP Mission and Altimetry/Gravimetry Surface Gravity Data, Poster presented at EGU General Assembly 2005, Vienna, Austria, 24–29, April 2005
Freeden W, Gervens T, Schreiner M (1998) Constructive Approximation on the Sphere, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Ilk KH (1984) On the analysis of satellite-to-satellite tracking data, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Space Techniques for Geodesy, pp. 59, Sopron
Ilk KH, Rummel R, Thalhammer M (1995) Refined Method for the Regional Recovery from GPS/SST and SGG, CIGAR III/2, ESA contract No. 10713/93/F/FL, European Space Agency
Koch KR, Kusche J (2003) Regularization of geopotential determination from satellite data by variance components, Journal of Geodesy 76(5):259–268
Lemoine FG, Kenyon SC, Factor JK, Trimmer RG, Pavlis NK, Chinn DS, Cox CM, Klosko SM, Luthcke SB, Torrence MH, Wang YM, Williamson RG, Pavlis EC, Rapp RH, Olson TR (1998) The development of the joint NASA GSFC and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) geopotential model EGM96, NASA/TP-1998-206861, Goddard Space Flight Center, Grenbelt, MD
Mayer-Gürr, T., Ilk, K.H., Eicker, A., (2004): ITG-CHAMP02: An Improved Gravity Field Model from a Two-Year Observation Period, New Satellite Mission Results for the Geopotential Fields und Their Variations, Proceedings Joint CHAMP/-GRACE Science Meeting, GFZ Potsdam, July 6–8
Mayer-Gürr T, Ilk, KH, Eicker A, Feuchtinger M (2005) ITG-CHAMP01: A CHAMP Gravity Field Model from Short Kinematical Arcs of a One-Year Observation Period, Journal of Geodesy (2005) 78:462–480
Reigber C (1969) Zur Bestimmung des Gravitationsfeldes der Erde aus Satellitenbeobachtungen, DGK, Reihe C, Heft Nr. 137, München
Schneider M, (1968) A General Method of Orbit Determination, Royal Aircraft Translation No. 1279, Ministry of Technology, Farnborough Hants, England
Schneider M, Reigber C (1969) On the Determination of field parameters using a generalized Fourier-Analysis, In: B. Morando (ed.) Dynamics of Satellites, Symposium Prague COSPAR-IAU-IAG/IUGG-IUTAM, Springer-Verlag Berlin 1970
Stroud AH, Secrest D (1966) Gaussian Quadrature Formulas, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Tapley BD, Bettadpur S, Watkins M, Reigber Ch (2004) The gravity recovery and climate experiment: mission overview and early results. Geophys Res Lett 31, L09607: doi10.1029/2004GL019920
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mayer-Gürr, T., Eicker, A., Ilk, K.H. (2006). Gravity Field Recovery from GRACE-SST Data of Short Arcs. In: Flury, J., Rummel, R., Reigber, C., Rothacher, M., Boedecker, G., Schreiber, U. (eds) Observation of the Earth System from Space. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-29522-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-29522-4_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-29520-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29522-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)