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SRTM2gravity: An Ultrahigh Resolution Global Model of Gravimetric Terrain Corrections
Author(s) -
Hirt Christian,
Yang Meng,
Kuhn Michael,
Bucha Blažej,
Kurzmann Andre,
Pail Roland
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082521
Subject(s) - digital elevation model , terrain , computation , elevation (ballistics) , geodesy , geology , remote sensing , gravitation , gravitational field , meteorology , computer science , computational science , algorithm , physics , mathematics , geography , cartography , geometry , classical mechanics , astronomy
We present a new global model of spherical gravimetric terrain corrections that take into account the gravitational attraction of Earth's global topographic masses at 3″ (~90 m) spatial resolution. The conversion of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission‐based digital elevation data to implied gravity effects relies on the global evaluation of Newton's law of gravitation, which represents a computational challenge for 3″ global topography data. We tackled this task by combining spatial and spectral gravity forward modeling techniques at the 0.2‐mGal accuracy level and used advanced computational resources in parallel to complete the 1 million CPU‐hour‐long computation within ~2 months. Key outcome is a 3″ map of topographic gravity effects reflecting the total gravitational attraction of Earth's global topography at ~28 billion computation points. The data, freely available for use in science, teaching, and industry, are immediately applicable as new in situ terrain correction to reduce gravimetric surveys around the globe.