Open AccessNumerical computation of the three‐dimensional normal ellipsoidal field with a 10 −2 m and 10 −2 mgal accuracy
Author(s) -
Bocchio F.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1978.tb04285.x
Subject(s) - equipotential surface , computation , curvature , ellipsoid , geometry , mathematics , mathematical analysis , christoffel symbols , metric (unit) , metric tensor , tensor (intrinsic definition) , geodesy , gravitational field , geology , physics , classical mechanics , algorithm , geodesic , operations management , economics
Summary. A new computation of the relevant geometrical and mechanical quantities pertaining to the three‐dimensional normal ellipsoidal field (Bocchio) has been worked out with reference to a spatial grid ranging from 0 to 9000 m in dynamic height and from 0 to 90° in latitude, with a mesh size of 500 m and 1° respectively giving a better accuracy. An estimate of the latter at the upper end of the vertical interval gives 10 −2 m for the radii of curvature of the equipotential surfaces and 10 −2 mgal for normal gravity. Twenty‐six functions of interest have been numerically computed including the metric tensor, Christoffel's symbols and the tensor of gravity gradients giving about 45 000 tabulated data.