Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications
Airborne gravimetry has become an important geophysical tool primarily because of advancements in methodology and instrumentation made in the past decade. Airborne gravity is especially useful when measured in conjunction with other geophysical data, such as magnetics, radar, and laser altimetry. Th...
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ftcolumbiauniv:oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8PZ5K9V 2023-05-15T13:50:01+02:00 Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications Bell, Robin E. Childers, Vicki A. Arko, Robert A. Blankenship, Donald D. Brozena, John M. 1999 https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V English eng https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V Geophysics Articles 1999 ftcolumbiauniv https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V 2019-04-04T08:06:32Z Airborne gravimetry has become an important geophysical tool primarily because of advancements in methodology and instrumentation made in the past decade. Airborne gravity is especially useful when measured in conjunction with other geophysical data, such as magnetics, radar, and laser altimetry. The aerogeophysical survey over the West Antarctic ice sheet described in this paper is one such interdisciplinary study. This paper outlines in detail the instrumentation, survey and data processing methodology employed to perform airborne gravimetry from the multiinstrumented Twin Otter aircraft. Precise positioning from carrier-phase Global Positioning System (GPS) observations are combined with measurements of acceleration made by the gravity meter in the aircraft to obtain the free-air gravity anomaly measurement at aircraft altitude. GPS data are processed using the Kinematic and Rapid Static (KARS) software program, and aircraft vertical acceleration and corrections for gravity data reduction are calculated from the GPS position solution. Accuracies for the free-air anomaly are determined from crossover analysis after significant editing (2.98 mGal rms) and from a repeat track (1.39 mGal rms). The aerogeophysical survey covered a 300,000 km2 region in West Antarctica over the course of five field seasons. The gravity data from the West Antarctic survey reveal the major geologic structures of the West Antarctic rift system, including the Whitmore Mountains, the Byrd Subglacial Basin, the Sinuous Ridge, the Ross Embayment, and Siple Dome. These measurements, in conjunction with magnetics and ice-penetrating radar, provide the information required to reveal the tectonic fabric and history of this important region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica Columbia University: Academic Commons Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Byrd Siple ENVELOPE(-83.917,-83.917,-75.917,-75.917) Siple Dome ENVELOPE(-148.833,-148.833,-81.667,-81.667) Whitmore Mountains ENVELOPE(-104.000,-104.000,-82.500,-82.500) Byrd Subglacial Basin ENVELOPE(-115.000,-115.000,-80.000,-80.000) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Columbia University: Academic Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftcolumbiauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Geophysics |
spellingShingle |
Geophysics Bell, Robin E. Childers, Vicki A. Arko, Robert A. Blankenship, Donald D. Brozena, John M. Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
topic_facet |
Geophysics |
description |
Airborne gravimetry has become an important geophysical tool primarily because of advancements in methodology and instrumentation made in the past decade. Airborne gravity is especially useful when measured in conjunction with other geophysical data, such as magnetics, radar, and laser altimetry. The aerogeophysical survey over the West Antarctic ice sheet described in this paper is one such interdisciplinary study. This paper outlines in detail the instrumentation, survey and data processing methodology employed to perform airborne gravimetry from the multiinstrumented Twin Otter aircraft. Precise positioning from carrier-phase Global Positioning System (GPS) observations are combined with measurements of acceleration made by the gravity meter in the aircraft to obtain the free-air gravity anomaly measurement at aircraft altitude. GPS data are processed using the Kinematic and Rapid Static (KARS) software program, and aircraft vertical acceleration and corrections for gravity data reduction are calculated from the GPS position solution. Accuracies for the free-air anomaly are determined from crossover analysis after significant editing (2.98 mGal rms) and from a repeat track (1.39 mGal rms). The aerogeophysical survey covered a 300,000 km2 region in West Antarctica over the course of five field seasons. The gravity data from the West Antarctic survey reveal the major geologic structures of the West Antarctic rift system, including the Whitmore Mountains, the Byrd Subglacial Basin, the Sinuous Ridge, the Ross Embayment, and Siple Dome. These measurements, in conjunction with magnetics and ice-penetrating radar, provide the information required to reveal the tectonic fabric and history of this important region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bell, Robin E. Childers, Vicki A. Arko, Robert A. Blankenship, Donald D. Brozena, John M. |
author_facet |
Bell, Robin E. Childers, Vicki A. Arko, Robert A. Blankenship, Donald D. Brozena, John M. |
author_sort |
Bell, Robin E. |
title |
Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
title_short |
Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
title_full |
Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
title_fullStr |
Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
title_full_unstemmed |
Airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
title_sort |
airborne gravity and precise positioning for geologic applications |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-83.917,-83.917,-75.917,-75.917) ENVELOPE(-148.833,-148.833,-81.667,-81.667) ENVELOPE(-104.000,-104.000,-82.500,-82.500) ENVELOPE(-115.000,-115.000,-80.000,-80.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Byrd Siple Siple Dome Whitmore Mountains Byrd Subglacial Basin |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic West Antarctica West Antarctic Ice Sheet Byrd Siple Siple Dome Whitmore Mountains Byrd Subglacial Basin |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Sheet West Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7916/D8PZ5K9V |
_version_ |
1766252746470588416 |