Temperature and humidity effects on CG-6 gravity observations

Abstract

Abstract The CG6 is an automated gravity meter that has a worldwide measurement range of over 8000 mGals and a reading resolution of 0.0001 mGal. Some factors that may influence the gravity readings are corrected by the instrument’s software. In this paper, the effects of the ambient temperature and humidity changes on the CG-6’s gravity measurements were investigated with the aim of reducing the uncertainty which remains in gravity measurements in microgal level, and giving recommendations for more accurate results. A controlled heating experiment was used to determine the impact of ambient temperature on gravity and 12 hours of continuous gravity observations were used to identify the impact of humidity on gravity measurements. It was observed that the sensor temperature and the gravity reading were highly correlated with the ambient temperature. The linear correlation with R2 > 0.94 and R2 > 0.90 were found for the corrected gravity reading and the residual sensor temperature variations respectively with the ambient temperature when heating. It was demonstrated that the calculated ambient temperature correction, −0.0011 mGal/oC, is more stable than the correction given by the instrument in terms of standard deviation though the impact of humidity on gravity reading was not clear.