Engineering topics

Pavlis, N. K.

Publications and source records attributed to Pavlis, N. K..

5 records

NASA NTRS2000

Geopotential Model Improvement Using POCM_4B Dynamic Ocean Topography Information: PGM2000A

The two-year mean (1993-1994) Dynamic Ocean Topography (DOT) field implied by the POCM_4B circulation model was used to develop normal equations for DOT, in a surface spherical harmonic representation. These normal equations were combined with normal equations from satellite tracking data, surface gravity data, and altimeter data from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1. Several least-squares combination solutions were developed in this fashion, by varying parameters such as the maximum degree of the estimated DOT and the relative weights of the different data. The solutions were evaluated in terms of orbit fit residuals, GPS/Leveling-derived undulations, and independent DOT information from in situ WOCE hydrographic data. An optimal solution was developed in this fashion which was originally presented at the 1998 EGS meeting in Nice, France. This model, designated here PGM2000A, maintains the orbit and land geoid modeling performance of EGM96, while improving its marine geoid modeling capability. In addition, PGM2000A's error spectrum is considerably more realistic than those of other contemporary gravitational models and agrees well with the error spectrum of EGM96. We will present the development and evaluation of PGM2000A, with particular emphasis on the weighting of the DOT information implied by POCM_4B. We will also present an inter-comparison of PGM2000A with the GRIM5-C1 and TEG-4 models. Directions for future work and problematic areas will be identified.

Pavlis, N. K.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Tidal Implications for the GRACE Satellite Mission

A fundamental part of the processing of the GRACE satellite data will be correction for the gravitational effect of tides. This includes solid earth, ocean, and atmospheric tides. The most problematic are ocean tides in shallow seas and in high latitudes (above the 66$^{\circ}$ inclination of Topex). Somewhat smaller, but still important, errors are associated with the S$_1$ air tide and the ocean's dynamic response to it. In this paper we explore several facets of the tidal error budget. The ocean tide error spectrum is estimated (a) by inverse methods and (b) by simple differencing of several of the best tidal models. The tidal error spectrum is flatter than the tidal signal spectrum, and it exceeds 10\% of the signal at degrees 15 and above. The tide errors also exceed the anticipated sensitivity of GRACE for all degrees below 40, and possibly below 50. The assumption of constant seawater density (of about 1035 kg\,M$^{-3}$) is a minor error source. Owing to GRACE's high inclination, solar tides are aliased to long periods, which is potentially problematic for geophysical interpretation of the gravity signal. Simulations of the effect of high-latitude solar-tide errors on gravity estimates around Antarctica will be discussed.

Ray, Richard D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

The Development of the Joint NASA GSFC and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) Geopotential Model EGM96

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and The Ohio State University (OSU) have collaborated to develop an improved spherical harmonic model of the Earth's gravitational potential to degree 360. The new model, Earth Gravitational Model 1996 (EGM96), incorporates improved surface gravity data, altimeter-derived gravity anomalies from ERS-1 and from the GEOSAT Geodetic Mission (GM), extensive satellite tracking data-including new data from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), the Global Postioning System (GPS), NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the French DORIS system, and the US Navy TRANET Doppler tracking system-as well as direct altimeter ranges from TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P), ERS-1, and GEOSAT. The final solution blends a low-degree combination model to degree 70, a block-diagonal solution from degree 71 to 359, and a quadrature solution at degree 360. The model was used to compute geoid undulations accurate to better than one meter (with the exception of areas void of dense and accurate surface gravity data) and realize WGS84 as a true three-dimensional reference system. Additional results from the EGM96 solution include models of the dynamic ocean topography to degree 20 from T/P and ERS-1 together, and GEOSAT separately, and improved orbit determination for Earth-orbiting satellites.

Lemoine, F. G.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Temporal variations of the earth's gravitational field from satellite laser ranging to LAGEOS

Monthly values of the J2 and J3 earth gravitational coefficients were estimated using LAGEOS satellite laser ranging data collected between 1980 and 1989. Monthly variations in gravitational coefficients caused by atmospheric mass redistribution were calculated using measurements of variations in surface atmospheric pressure. Results for correlation studies of the two time series are presented. The LAGEOS and atmospheric J2 time series agree well and it appears that variations in J2 can be attributed to the redistribution of atmospheric mass. Atmospheric and LAGEOS estimates for J3 show poorer agreement, J3 estimates appear to be very sensitive to unmodeled forces acting on the satellite. Results indicate that the LAGEOS data can be used to detect small variations in the gravitational field.

Nerem, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The development of an isostatic gravitational model to degree 360 and its use in global gravity modelling

Consideration is given to the possibility of combining low-degree satellite-derived geopotential models with the harmonic coefficients of the topographic-isostatic potential implied by the Airy/Heiskanen isostatic hypothesis. The compilation of a topographic database providing information pertaining to terrain type classification is discussed. The formulation for the determination of harmonic coefficients of the topographic-isostatic potential is extended beyond to cases discussed by Lachapelle (1976) to include various terrain types. This formulation and the series expansion approach of Rummel et al. (1988) are implemented for potential coefficient determinations complete to degree and order 360. The topographic-isostatic coefficients are used with satellite-derived geopotential models to estimate mean gravity anomalies. The results are compared with observations to evaluate the quality of different estimation procedures.

Pavlis, N. K.↗