Abstract.
The analytical continuation of the surface gravity anomaly to sea level is a necessary correction in the application of Stokes' formula for geoid estimation. This process is frequently performed by the inversion of Poisson's integral formula for a sphere. Unfortunately, this integral equation corresponds to an improperly posed problem, and the solution is both numerically unstable, unless it is well smoothed, and tedious to compute. A solution that avoids the intermediate step of downward continuation of the gravity anomaly is presented. Instead the effect on the geoid as provided by Stokes' formula is studied directly. The practical solution is partly presented in terms of a truncated Taylor series and partly as a truncated series of spherical harmonics. Some simple numerical estimates show that the solution mostly meets the requests of a 1-cm geoid model, but the truncation error of the far zone must be studied more precisely for high altitudes of the computation point. In addition, it should be emphasized that the derived solution is more computer efficient than the detour by Poisson's integral.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 6 February 2002 / Accepted: 18 November 2002
Acknowledgements. Jonas Ågren carried out the numerical calculations and gave some critical and constructive remarks on a draft version of the paper. This support is cordially acknowledged. Also, the thorough work performed by one unknown reviewer is very much appreciated.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sjöberg, L. A solution to the downward continuation effect on the geoid determined by Stokes' formula. Journal of Geodesy 77, 94–100 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-002-0306-1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-002-0306-1