Absolute airborne gravimetry with a cold atom sensor

• Published in: Journal of Geodesy
• Main Authors: Bidel, Yannick, Zahzam, Nassim, Bresson, Alexandre, Blanchard, Cédric, Cadoret, Malo, Olesen, Arne V., Forsberg, René
• Other Authors: DPHY, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay (COmUE) Palaiseau, ONERA-Université Paris Saclay (COmUE), Laboratoire commun de métrologie LNE-CNAM (LCM), Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d'Essais Trappes (LNE )-Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers CNAM (CNAM), HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université (HESAM)-HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université (HESAM), Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: GRAVIMETER; ATOM INTERFEROMETRY; AIRBORNE; ABSOLUTE; ABSOLUE; GRAVIMETRE; AEROPORTEE; INTERFEROMETRIE ATOMIQUE; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det]; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02350497; https://hal.science/hal-02350497v2/document; https://hal.science/hal-02350497v2/file/DPHY19094.1582878382_postprint.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-020-01350-2

International audience Measuring gravity from an aircraft is essential in geodesy, geophysics and exploration. It fills a gap between satellite techniques which have a low spatial resolution and traditional ground measurements which can only be performed on ground in accessible areas. Today, only relative sensors are available for airborne gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints and measurement errors. Here, we report an absolute airborne gravimeter based on atom interferometry. This instrument has been first tested on a motion simulator leading to gravity measurements noise of 0.3 mGal for 75 s filtering time constant. Then, we realized an airborne campaign across Iceland in April 2017. From repeated line and crossing points, we obtain gravity measurements with an estimated error between 1.7 and 3.9 mGal. The airborne measurements have also been compared to upward continued ground gravity data and show differences with a standard deviation ranging from 3.3 to 6.2 mGal and a mean value ranging from − 0.7 to − 1.9 mGal.