Local gravity field modelling in rugged terrain using spherical radial basis functions: Case study for the Canadian Rocky Mountains

Robert Tenzer, R. Klees, T. Wittwer

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We analyze the performance of a least-squares approximation of the gravity field using Spherical Radial Basis Functions (SRBFs) in rugged mountains. The numerical experiment is conducted for the gravity disturbances and for the topographically corrected gravity disturbances, both provided on a 5 ×5 arc-min grid located at the Earth's surface. The target area is a rough part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains with adjacent planes. The data area and the parameterization area extend the target area in all directions by 3 arc-deg. The accuracy of the gravity field approximation is investigated using a SRBF parameterization (Poisson wavelet of order 3) on different spherical equal-angular grids with step sizes varying between 6 and 12 arc-min. For every choice of grid, the optimal depth of SRBFs bellow the Bjerhammar sphere is found using the minimization of the RMS differences between predicted and observed values. The results of the numerical experiment reveal that the application of the topographical correction to the observed gravity data reduces the number of SRBFs by more than 56%, and improves the fit to the data by 12%. Unfortunately, it also introduces a systematic bias in the adjusted gravity disturbances.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGeodesy for Planet Earth - Proceedings of the 2009 IAG Symposium
Pages401-409
Number of pages9
Volume136
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2012
Externally publishedYes
EventIAG Symposium on Geodesy for Planet Earth, IAG 2009 - Chania, Crete, Argentina
Duration: 31 Aug 20094 Sept 2009

Conference

ConferenceIAG Symposium on Geodesy for Planet Earth, IAG 2009
Country/TerritoryArgentina
CityChania, Crete
Period31/08/094/09/09

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computers in Earth Sciences
  • Geophysics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Local gravity field modelling in rugged terrain using spherical radial basis functions: Case study for the Canadian Rocky Mountains'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this