On geoid determination from airborne gravity

Recent advances in the performance of scalar airborne gravimetry, routinely yielding gravity data with an accuracy as high as 1 mGal with a minimum spatial resolution (full wavelength) of 10 km, allow for the use of airborne gravity in precise geoid computations. Theoretical issues related to geoid determination from discrete samples of band-limited airborne gravity and practical geoid computations based on high-frequency synthetic data and actual observations are discussed. The mathematical model for geoid determination from band-limited airborne gravity which is introduced is based on Helmert's reduction of gravity/co-geoid and the application of the discretized integral formula developed specifically for airborne gravity data. Computational formulae are derived for the following specifications of airborne gravity data: almost-white observation noise, a band-limited frequency content of processed observations, and a smooth regular surface on which gravity observations are collected.