GOCE Data Analysis: From Calibrated Measurements to the Global Earth Gravity Field

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to describe an in-situ approach to determine a global Earth gravity model and its variance/covariance information on the basis of calibrated measurements from the GOCE mission. As the main characteristics of this procedure, the GOCE data are processed sequentially on a parallel computer system, iteratively via application of the method of preconditioned conjugate gradient multiple adjustment (PCGMA), and in situ via development of the functionals at the actual location and orientation of the gradiometer. We will further explain the adaption of the unknown stochastic model, determined by estimating decorrelation filters and variance components with respect to the GOCE observation types (i.e. SST, SGG, and regularizing prior information).