A study of gravity variations caused by polar motion using superconducting gravimeter data from the GGP network

Abstract

Long-term continuous gravity observations, recorded at five superconducting gravimeter (SG) sta- tions in the Global Geodynamic Project (GGP) net- work, as well as data on orientation variations in the Earth's rotation axis (i.e. polar motion), have been used to investigate the characteristics of gravity variations on the Earth's surface caused by polar motion. All the SG gravity data sets were pre-processed using identical techniques to remove the luni-solar gravity tides, the long-term trends of the instrumental drift, and the effects of atmospheric pressure. The analysis indicates that the spectral peaks, related to the Chandler and annual wobbles, were identified in both the power and product spectral density estimates. The magnitude of gravity variations, as well as the gravimetric amplitude factor associated with the Chandler wobble, changed significantly at different SG stations and during different observation periods. However, when all the SG obser- vations at these five sites were combined, the gravimetric parameters of the Chandler wobble were retrieved accurately: 1.1613 ± 0.0737 for the amplitude factor and )1� .30 ± 1� .33 for the phase difference. The value of the estimated amplitude factor is in agreement with that predicted theoretically for the zonal tides of an elastic Earth model.