Abstract
In this lecture, three major aspects of airborne gravimetry are presented:
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Introduction to system concepts
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Modelling of observables and estimation
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Boundary value problems.
After an introduction which overviews some of the historical development, the concepts of airborne gravimetry are briefly discussed. Three major approaches to the measurement of gravity from a moving platform are then outlined, namely scalar gravimetry, vector gravimetry, and gravity gradiometry. Scalar gravimetry is currently the most widely used, although test results are available for all three approaches. In the second part, the model equations for scalar and vector gravimetry are stated and their error models are derived. Special emphasis is given to scalar gravimetry in this part. Error sources are discussed in detail and some examples are used to illustrate major points. Insight gained in the process is used for the subsequent design of estimation procedures. It appears that at this stage of system development, the iterative use of time domain and spectral methods is the most appropriate way to extract the gravity signal from the noisy data. In the third part, three groups of geodetic boundary value problems (BVPs), related to airborne gravimetry, are introduced and solutions to these problems are presented. BVPs using airborne gravimetric data only are formulated first, and their solutions are given in terms of a Taylor expansion and a Fourier transform. BVPs combining airborne data with other data on the ground are considered next. Solutions to them are derived by way of planar harmonic analysis. Finally, the concept of multiresolution BVPs is introduced, and the solutions are developed based on discrete wavelet transforms. A brief assessment of current trends in airborne gravimetry concludes the course.
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Schwarz, K.P., Li, Z. (1997). An introduction to airborne gravimetry and its boundary value problems. In: Sansó, F., Rummel, R. (eds) Geodetic Boundary Value Problems in View of the One Centimeter Geoid. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 65. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0011709
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0011709
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