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Drift reduction in strapdown airborne gravimetry using a simple thermal correction

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Abstract

Previous work has shown, that strapdown airborne gravimeters can have a comparable or even superior performance in the higher frequency domain (resolution of few kilometres), compared to classical stable-platform air gravimeters using springs, such as the LaCoste and Romberg (LCR) S-gravimeter. However, the longer wavelengths (tens of kilometres and more) usually suffer from drifts of the accelerometers of the strapdown inertial measurement unit (IMU). In this paper, we analyse the drift characteristics of the QA2000 accelerometers, which are the most widely used navigation-grade IMU accelerometers. A large portion of these drifts is shown to come from thermal effects. A lab calibration procedure is used to derive a thermal correction, which is then applied to data from 18 out of 19 flights from an airborne gravity campaign carried out in Chile in October 2013. The IMU-derived gravity closure error can be reduced by 91 % on average, from 3.72 mGal/h to only 0.33 mGal/h (RMS), which is an excellent long-term performance for strapdown gravimetry. Also, the IMU results are compared to the LCR S-gravimeter, which is known to have an excellent long-term stability. Again, the thermal correction yields a significant reduction of errors, with IMU and LCR aerogravity results being consistent at the 2 mGal level.

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Acknowledgments

The Chile aerogravity campaign was carried out by DTU Space in cooperation with the University of Bergen, Norway, Instituto Geográfico Militar, Chile, and the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Arne Gidskehaug, University of Bergen, participated in the field campaign, operating and maintaining the S-99 gravimeter. The authors would like to thank the reviewers and the associate editor for their critical remarks and suggestions, which have led to major improvements of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical and Satellite Geodesy, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    David Becker & Matthias Becker

  2. Danish National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    J. Emil Nielsen & René Forsberg

  3. Astronomical Observatory, Faculty of Science, University of Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

    Diogo Ayres-Sampaio & Luísa Bastos

  4. Department of Geosciences Environment and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Science, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Diogo Ayres-Sampaio & Luísa Bastos

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  1. David Becker
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  2. J. Emil Nielsen
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  3. Diogo Ayres-Sampaio
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  4. René Forsberg
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  5. Matthias Becker
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  6. Luísa Bastos
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Correspondence to David Becker.

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Becker, D., Nielsen, J.E., Ayres-Sampaio, D. et al. Drift reduction in strapdown airborne gravimetry using a simple thermal correction. J Geod 89, 1133–1144 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-015-0839-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-015-0839-8

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