Near‐real time reduction of shipboard gravity using Kalman‐filtered GPS measurements

Abstract

We have developed a Kalman filter to estimate accurate Eötvös corrections and horizontal ship accelerations from Global Positioning System (GPS) fixes. High‐resolution shipboard gravity measurements are obtained with a newly designed, linear phase, Finite Impulse Response (FIR) low‐pass filter. Both filters are combined to yield accurate, near‐real time, Eötvös‐corrected underway gravity estimates. Error ranges that reflect uncertainty in navigation for these estimates are calculated from autocovariances of Kalman velocity estimates by means of variance propagation expressions for time‐invariant linear digital filters. Estimates of horizontal ship acceleration are combined with a simplified instrument impulse response model in an attempt to remove transient noise from the gravimeter output. We apply the technique to data collected by two shipboard gravimeters, a LaCoste & Romberg Model S Air‐Sea Gravity Meter and a Bell Aerospace BGM-3 Marine Gravity Meter System, operated side‐by‐side on the Scripps R/V Thomas Washington during Leg 1 of the Roundabout expedition. In the absence of significant horizontal accelerations due to course or speed changes, both instruments yield data with good repeatability, characterized by rms differences of less than 1 mGal. Horizontal accelerations generate transient signals that cannot be modeled at present to an accuracy of better than 5 mGal. Difficulties in removing these transients are primarily due to insufficient quantitative knowledge of the response of the instrument, including the gyro‐stabilized platform. This can be determined analytically or empirically.