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Marine Gravimetry and Its Improvements to Seafloor Topography Estimation in the Southwestern Coastal Area of the Baltic Sea

Authors :
Biao Lu
Chuang Xu
Jinbo Li
Bo Zhong
Mark van der Meijde
Source :
Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 16, p 3921 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

Marine gravimetry provides high-quality gravity measurements, particularly in coastal areas. After the update of new sensors in GFZ’s air-marine gravimeter Chekan-AM, gravimetry measurements showed a significant improvement from the first new campaign DENEB2017 with an accuracy of 0.3/2=0.21 mGal @ 1 km along the tracks, which is at the highest accuracy level of marine gravimetry. Then, these measurements were used to assess gravity data derived from satellite altimetry (about 3 mGal) and a new finding is that a bias of −1.5 mGal exists in the study area. Additionally, ship soundings were used to assess existing seafloor topography models. We found that the accuracy of SRTM model and SIO model is at a level of 2 m, while the accuracy of the regional model EMODnet reaches the lever of sub-meters. Furthermore, a bias of 0.7 m exists and jumps above 5 m in the SRTM model near the coast of Sweden. Finally, new combined gravity anomalies with sounding data are used to reveal the fine structure of ocean topography. Our estimated seafloor topography model is more accurate than existing digital elevation data sets such as EMODnet, SRTM and SIO models and, furthermore, shows some more detailed structure of seafloor topography. The marine gravimetry and sounding measurements as well as the estimated seafloor topography are crucial for future geoid determination, 3D-navigation and resource exploration in the Baltic Sea.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20724292
Volume :
14
Issue :
16
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Remote Sensing
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.5d51d5fb227b4a6bad3a6dd8d38226b7
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14163921