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Geodesi Fisis
A GUIDE TO HIGH PRECISION LAND GRAVIMETER
SURVEY
Program Pascasarjana Teknik Geomatika Fakultas Teknik
Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Yogyakarta


Dany Laksono (13/353080/PTK/08949)
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A Guide to High Precision Gravimeter Survey
H.O. Siegel
Reviewed by: Dany Laksono


Introduction
This book discuss about definition and the way to obtain high precision gravimeter survey. The
writer explains about steps that need to be taken by anyone who wants to conduct a gravimeter
survey, what to follow and what to avoid during the survey.The book is divided into twelve chapters
or sections, with each of them focus on different aspect of Gravity survey as follow:
1. The first and second chapters deal with basic understanding on gravity data: where does the
gravitational field come from, and what kinds of variation does it have in different part of the
earth;
2. The third chapter discussed about the many application of gravity data and the requirements
of each field to obtain gravity data;
3. The fourth chapter talks about the gravimeter device itself;
4. The fifth chapter discussed in depth about some important factors to achieve high precision
data from a gravity field survey
5. The sixth chapter deals with corrections that should be given to survey data in order to obtain
highly precise gravimeter survey measurement
6. Seventh chapter mention the standard procedur that needs to be followed by gravity data
surveyor
7. The eigth chapter discuss about data processing and presentation of gravity data
8. Chapter nine discuss about the interpretation of gravity data, including determination of depth
from gravity data
9. Chapter 10 mentions some historical case studies on the implementation of high precision
gravity data survey.
10. Chapter 11 is the list of references, while chapter 12 is dedicated to one of the available
gravimeter for high precision gravity survey, Scintrex CG-3M
This resume will give a brief review of each chapter, while underlining the most important aspect on
that chapter.
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Earths Gravitational Field and Its Variation
The force of gravity is essentially the strength of attraction between two bodies with mass.
According to Newtons Universal Law of Gravity, the attraction force between two bodies with mass
M
1
and M
2
, respectively, can be notated as follow:

Where r denotes the distance between center of both masses, and G = gravitational constant, i.e.
6.673 x 10
-11
m
3
kg
-1
s
-2
.

Figure 1: Newtonian Law of Universal Gravity

Since the earth is a non homogenous body of mass with highly variable density, the
gravitational attraction is also varied from point to point on the earths surface. The gravitational
acceleration force as a result of these variation can be expressed as an integral over the variation of
of earths body volume:

In this equation, d is the objects (or, in this case, the earths) density.
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To give approximation of the shape of the earth, one could obtain a model by assuming that
the gravitational force in the earth is uniform in all points. Model of the earth which derived from
such assumption is called as spheroid. However, a more accurate model of the earth is to take
variation of gravitational force into account. The model which considers the variation of so-called
Mean-sea level surface is termed geoid. Geoid, as an equipotential surface of the earth, differs from
spheroid as a result of a number of variations. Below are some of the variations that caused geoid to
differ from spheroid:
1. Variation with latitude
This variation takes sentrifugal and gravitational force into account, and occurred with
change of observed latitude. This variation can be expressed as:

Where 1 Gal = 10
-2
m/s
2

2. Variation with elevation
a. Free-air effect
The effect resulted from vertical gradient change above the surface of the earth.
Denotes as:


b. Bouguer effect
The effect as a result of additional mass gained from change of elevation above the
surface of the earth. Denotes as:

c. Elevation effect
Combinations of Bouguer and Free-air effect. Expressed as:

for elevation increment above the surface, and

for increasing depth below the surface

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3. Terrain effects
This variation is caused by local irregularities in the topography around gravity station.
Knowledge on local topography is needed to calculate this effect and its cause to gravity
measurement. The effect of Bouguer, Free-air and terrain effects can be expressed with
diagram below:

Figure 2: Bouguer, Free air and Terrain Effects

4. Variation with time
a. Earth tides
b. Atmospheric Pressure
c. Precipitation
d. Ocean Tides (sea level changes)
5. Variation with Geology
This variation is caused by irregular distribution of rocks and minerals below the earths
surface. Different minerals have effects on different density distribution, which in turn caused
the variation in gravity measurement.

Gravimeter and Applications of Gravimetric Surveys
This chapter of the book briefly discuss about various application of Gravimetric surveys.
Below are some of the notable applications of gravimetric survey:
1. Regional Geological Mapping
2. Petroleum Exploration
3. Mineral Exploration
4. Geotechnical and archeological studies
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5. Groundwater and environmental studies
6. Tectonic Studies
7. Volcanology and Geotermal Studies

The instrument to obtain the gravitational force in a point of the earth is called Gravimeter.
Gravimeter can be divided into two basic categories:
a. Absolute Gravimeters, which measure gravitational force in a single point
b. Relative Gravimeters, which measure the difference between different gravity station.
This category can further be divided into two sub-categories according to its design:
i. Astatic/Unstable Gravimeter, relies on unstable mechanism to obtain precise
gravity measurement
ii. Stabel Gravimeter, use a rather stable mechanism to obtain gravity data

Some principal factors need to be considered in order to achieve highly precise gravitational data.
Below are some factors that contribute to the accuracy of gravity measurement:
1. Instrumental factors
a. Shock and vibration
The effect of shock and vibration caused gravimeter to possess offset and changes in
drift rates, which usually takes place during instrument movement. In that case,
moving between one station to another should be very precautious to avoid the drift
error
b. Power down
Power down caused the gravimeter to lose its ability to maintain its temperature,
which caused error in instrument reading
c. Extreme temperature shock
Change in temperature also need to be taken into account when moving the
instrument between one station to another, as extreme temperature change could harm
the instrument and devise instrument reading
d. Elastic Relaxation
Occurred in spring-balanced gravitimeter, where the spring does not return to its
original position during measurement
e. Leveling
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Error caused by failure to position the instrument in parallel along the plumbline
f. Change of Battery
When the instruments battery needs to be changed, it is recommended to repeat the
last station measured, since low battery can affect the result of gravity measurement
g. Calibration
Errors or inaccuracies during instrument calibration
h. Long and Short term drifts
A drift or change in gravity measurement cause by instrument issues

2. External factors
a. Seismic Noise
In order to eliminate the effect of seismic noise, the instrument needs to be digitally
stacked for a sufficiently long time
b. Selection of station location
Gravity station location needs to be carefully chosen in a firm, disruption free and
stable location.
c. Wind-induced vibration
Vibration caused by the winds could produce undesireable noise in gravity data
d. Station Elevation
This error is caused by elevation effect as discussed before, which occurs in some
gravimeters.
e. Atmospheric pressure
Errors caused by the effect of atmospheric pressure can be corrected using barometric
reading of the station

These errors can be corrected using calculated or calibrated values. Some corrections that can
be applied in order to obtain highly precise gravity measurement are as follow:
1. Variations with time
a. Earth tide correction (C
T
)
b. Instrumental Drift (C
D
)
c. Atmospheric Pressure Change (C
P
)
d. Change in groundwater and surface water level (C
GW
)
2. Variations with latitude (C
L
).
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3. Variations with elevation (C
E
)
4. Terrain Effects (C
TE
)



Figure 3: Corrections on Topographic Effect


Standard Field Procedure
In order to obtain highly precise gravimeter measurement, the design of optimum survey
layout needs to be considered. The use of different stations during gravimeter survey affect the
accuracy of the result. The election of which layout that used during survey is affected by the
intended accuracy.
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Figure 4: An Example of Gravimeter Survey Layout

Another consideration is to assess elevation and positional accuracy of the station. This is
critical to obtain highly precise gravimeter reading, since different elevation and position yields
different results. In conclusion, below are the steps that need to be taken in order to obtain precise
gravity measurement:
1. Set up gravimeter in a stable manner
2. Establish the grid of proposed gravity stations and taking local topograpic variation into
account
3. Select the ideal base stations according to the grid
4. Making the measurement and distribute the appropriate drift corrections for each loop and
stations
5. Take barometric reading when deemed necessary
6. Take the mean of the two or more sets of base station gravity values, corrected for drift,
instrumental level, tides and barometric pressure changes, etc., as being the correct values
for each base station
7. Complete each section of gravimetric survey
8. Establish the elevation and coordinates of each gravimeter station on the grid, by means
appropriate to the accuracy required of the survey
9. Tie to national gravity grid when available

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Data Processing and Presentation
An obvious step that need to be taken to obtain highly precise gravimeter data is to apply
correction. After that, the data can be presented either as table, diagram or contour map of the area of
interest. In order to deliver the measured gravity data into an easy to understand contour map, the
map maker needs to consider relation between Station Spacing, contour interval, and map scale. The
ideal relationship are given as follow:

Figure 5: Relationship between map scale and contour interval

Below is an example of Density Contour Plan and Bouguer Profile obtained using gravimetry
survey:
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Figure 6: Bouguer profile (above) and Contour (below)