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Marine gravimetry using the strapdown gravimeter SGA-WZ

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Abstract

Gravity can be measured in many ways, from static-point observations to dynamic measurement using land vehicles, ships, aircrafts and satellites. China has developed a gravimetry system based on SINS (Strapdown Inertial Navigation System) named SGA-WZ. This system is the first strapdown gravimetry system in China. Some airborne gravimetry campaigns have been implemented using SGA-WZ. The flight tests indicate that the accuracy of SGA-WZ is 1.5 mGal at a 4.8 km resolution. To test the performance of SGA-WZ when installed on a ship, a marine gravimetry campaign was conducted in the South China Sea in August 2013. In the test, a state-of-the-art commercial sea gravimeter, the LaCoste & Romberg (L&R), was mounted side by side with SGA-WZ. The test contained 30 survey lines in the west-east direction and four groups of repeat lines in four directions; the evaluation of the repeatability was based on repeat lines. The measurement and in-movement alignment algorithm for strapdown gravimeters in the sea are discussed, and the results and analysis of this test are presented. The results from the repeated lines and the comparison with L&R showed that the accuracy of SGA-WZ is at the level of 1 mGal with a resolution between 0.4 and 0.8 km for shipborne gravimetry. These results indicate that the strapdown gravimetry system SGA-WZ can be used in marine gravimetry and the moving base alignment method can improve the computation efficiency greatly when using the strapdown gravimetry system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61603401) and the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2013AA06302).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Automatic Control, College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410072, China

    Shaokun Cai, Junbo Tie, Kaidong Zhang, Juliang Cao & Mei** Wu

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  1. Shaokun Cai
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  2. Junbo Tie
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  3. Kaidong Zhang
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  4. Juliang Cao
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  5. Mei** Wu
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Correspondence to Shaokun Cai.

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Cai, S., Tie, J., Zhang, K. et al. Marine gravimetry using the strapdown gravimeter SGA-WZ. Mar Geophys Res 38, 325–340 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-017-9312-9

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