A flight test of the strapdown airborne gravimeter SGA-WZ in Greenland

• Published in: Sensors
• Main Authors: Zhao, Lei, Forsberg, René, Wu, Meiping, Olesen, Arne Vestergaard, Zhang, Kaidong, Cao, Juliang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Finite impulse response filter; Global positioning system; Gravity data; Inertial navigation system; Strapdown airborne gravimeter; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water; name=SDG 14 - Life Below Water; Greenland
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/71f77288-38fc-40d6-9653-bcddff786b30; https://doi.org/10.3390/s150613258; https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/112136517/sensors_15_13258.pdf

An airborne gravimeter is one of the most important tools for gravity data collection over large areas with mGal accuracy and a spatial resolution of several kilometers. In August 2012, a flight test was carried out to determine the feasibility and to assess the accuracy of the new Chinese SGA-WZ strapdown airborne gravimeter in Greenland, in an area with good gravity coverage from earlier marine and airborne surveys. An overview of this new system SGA-WZ is given, including system design, sensor performance and data processing. The processing of the SGA-WZ includes a 160 s length finite impulse response filter, corresponding to a spatial resolution of 6 km. For the primary repeated line, a mean r.m.s. deviation of the differences was less than 1.5 mGal, with the error estimate confirmed from ground truth data. This implies that the SGA-WZ could meet standard geophysical survey requirements at the 1 mGal level.