Publication Date:
2019
Description:
Abstract
Terrestrial gravimetry is increasingly used to monitor mass transport processes in geophysics boosted by the ongoing technological development of instruments. Resolving a particular phenomenon of interest, however, requires a set of gravity corrections of which the uncertainties have not been addressed up to now. In this study, we quantify the time domain uncertainty of tide, global atmospheric, large‐scale hydrological, and nontidal ocean loading corrections. The uncertainty is assessed by comparing the majority of available global models for a suite of sites worldwide. The average uncertainty expressed as root‐mean‐square error equals 5.1 nm/s2, discounting local hydrology or air pressure. The correction‐induced uncertainty of gravity changes over various time periods of interest ranges from 0.6 nm/s2 for hours up to a maximum of 6.7 nm/s2 for 6 months. The corrections are shown to be significant and should be applied for most geophysical applications of terrestrial gravimetry. From a statistical point of view, however, resolving subtle gravity effects in the order of few nanometers per square second is challenged by the uncertainty of the corrections.
Print ISSN:
2169-9313
Electronic ISSN:
2169-9356
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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