Gravity field Measurements Made by Earth Observation Satellites

CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS

Measurements > Gravity and Magnetic Fields >
Gravity, Magnetic and Geodynamic measurements >
Gravity field

Measurement Definition*: Indicative of the statics and dynamics of the lithosphere and the mantle - Physical unit: [ mGal ] (1 Gal = 0.01 m/s2. i.e. 1 mGal ≈ 10-6 g0 . “Gal” stands for Galileo) - Accuracy unit: [ mGal ].

Instrument	Status/ Accuracy	Instrument Description	Measurement Technology	Timeline
ACC Accelerometer	Operational	Measurement of the spacecraft non-gravitational accelerations, linear accelerations range: +/- 210-4 m/s2; angular measurement range: +/- 9.6 10-3 rad/s2; measurement bandwidth: 10-4 to 10-2 Hz; Linear resolution: 1.810-10 m/s2; angular resolution: 810-9 rad/s2.	n/a
GNSS POD Receiver Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Precise Orbit Determination (POD) Receiver	Operational	Precision orbit determination.	n/a
GPS Receiver (Swarm) Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver (Swarm)	Operational	Provides position and timing determination	n/a
GPSP Global Positioning System Payload	Operational	Precision orbit determination.	n/a
Laser Reflectors Laser Reflectors	Operational	Measures distance between the satellite and the laser tracking stations.	n/a
Laser Reflectors (ESA) Laser Reflectors	Operational	Measures distance between the satellite and the laser tracking stations.	n/a
LCCRA (LARES) Laser Corner Cube Reflector Assembly	Operational	Accuracy measurements on Lense-Thirring effect and baseline tracking data for General Relativity study and precision geodesy. Also for calibration of radar altimeter bias.	n/a
LCCRA (LARES-2) Laser Corner Cube Reflector Assembly	Operational	Accuracy measurements on Lense-Thirring effect and baseline tracking data for General Relativity study and precision geodesy. Also for calibration of radar altimeter bias. Retro-reflectors are smaller (about 1 inch in diameter) than those mounted onboard LARES-1 and their number is much greater (about 300).	n/a
LRA Laser Retroreflector Array	Operational	Baseline tracking data for precision orbit determination and/or geodesy. Also for calibration of radar altimeter bias. Several types used on various missions. (ASI involved in LAGEOS 2 development).	n/a
LRA (LAGEOS) Laser Retroreflector Array	Operational	Baseline tracking data for precision geodesy. Also for calibration of radar altimeter bias. Several types used on various missions.	n/a
LRA (Sentinel-6) Laser Retroreflector Array (Sentinel-6)	Operational		n/a
LRI Laser Ranging Instrument	Operational	Inter-satellite ranging measurement to picometer level to be used to estimates for global models of the mean and time variable Earth gravity field.	n/a
MWI Microwave Instrument	Operational	Includes BlackJack Global Positioning System (Turbo Rogue Space Receiver) and High Accuracy Inter-satellite Ranging System (aka K-band Ranging System) for Inter-satellite ranging system estimates for global models of the mean and time variable Earth gravity field.	n/a
RRA Retroreflector Array	Operational	Satellite laser ranging for geodynamic measurements.	n/a

* Description adapted from WMO.