On determination of the geoid from measured gradients of the Earth's gravity field potential
Pavel Novák, Michal Šprlák, Martin Pitoňák
NTIS – New Technologies for the Information Society
Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of West Bohemia
Pilsen, Czechia
The geoid is an equipotential surface of the static Earth's gravity field which plays a fundamental role in definition of physical heights related to the mean sea level (orthometric heights) in geodesy and represents a reference surface in many geoscientific studies. Its determination with the cm-level accuracy or better, in particular over dry land, belongs to major tasks of modern geodesy. Traditional data and underlined theory have significantly be affected in recent years by advances in observation techniques. This study reviews new data types represented by gradients of the disturbing gravity potential, both currently available and foreseen, and systematically discusses mathematical models for geoid determination based on the gradient data which are considered data measurable, e.g., by differential accelerometry. Particular mathematical models are based on solutions to boundary-value problems of the potential theory and include both integral transforms and integral equations.