Gravity system and network in Estonia

Abstract

Preparations to establish a new accurate gravity network in Estonia were initiated in 2001. Since then several LCR (LaCoste&Romberg) G-type and Scintrex CG-5 relative gravimeters have been used to determine gravity differences precisely. The calibration functions of those relative instruments have been repeatedly checked at the calibration lines in Estonia and in Finland. Since the beginning of the 1990s absolute gravity values have been determined three times in Estonia: in 1995 at three stations with JILAg-5 by the Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI), in 2007 at two stations with FG5-220 by the Institut für Erdmessung (IfE), University of Hannover, and a year later at seven stations with FG5-221 again by FGI. On the ground of collected absolute and relative gravity data, a new realization (network GV-EST) of the Estonian gravity system (EGS) is currently being established. However, before the completion of the network, several issues should be solved, including the calibration of relative gravimeters, the corrections of readings and setup of the functional model, the weighting of observation data and selection of statistical tests, the short and long term changes of the gravity field, the choice of the epoch. In the current paper I introduced the concept of EGS as well as the methodology to solve the afore-mentioned issues. Since the estimated uncertainties of gravity values from network adjustment stayed below ±10 μGal (1 μGal = 10-8 m/s2) it was concluded that the selected methods had been efficient. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.