Malaysia Geoid Model (MyGEOID)

Executive Summary

Background

Department of Surveying and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM) has undertaken the

Airborne Gravity Survey and Geoid Determination Project for the whole of
the Sabah-Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia area. The total area covered by
the airborne gravity survey project is approximately 350,000 square kilometers.
This project has been carried out by JUPEM and a Consortium, which comprise
of a Malaysian main contractor company, Global Synergy Sdn. Bhd., with the
National Land Survey and Cadastre (KMS) of Denmark as the prime
subcontractor. The implementation of the airborne gravity survey and geoid
determination for the Malaysian region will certainly complement and strengthen
the existing geodetic infrastructure.

Airborne gravimetry has been established as a production system to accurately

measure the gravity field of the earth from the air, using an aircraft as the
measurement platform. This technology development is important to Malaysia
because many inaccessible areas especially in Sabah, Sarawak and central
part of Peninsular Malaysia gravity data is very much lacking or not available at
all. Consequently, the determination of a precise geoid at cm level accuracy for
the Malaysian region has been hampered by lack of gravity data. The proposed
methodology for gravity data acquisition and geoid determination using
heterogeneous data will provide Malaysia with state of the art technology in this
field and ensure successful implementation of the project.

The combination of airborne gravimetry data with terrestrial gravity

measurements and other satellite gravity missions will further enhance the
knowledge of the Earths gravity field in the Malaysian region. Terrestrial
gravimetry is slow and very costly in inaccessible areas such as most parts of
mountainous and hinterland regions of Malaysia. Airborne gravimetry is the

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most efficient and fast technique for gravity data acquisition especially for
remote and inaccessible areas. Furthermore, the airborne gravimetry technique
provides gravity information with uniform coverage and consistent accuracy for
the whole Malaysian region.

Terms of reference of the project

The overall project terms of reference (TOR) for both Sabah/Sarawak (Phase I)
and Peninsular Malaysia (Phase II) are as follows:

1) Airborne Gravity Data Acquisition and Processing

To provide a dense gravity data at 5km spacing at 2 mgal accuracy
covering Sabah-Sarawak (Phase I) and Peninsular Malaysia (Phase II).
The flight lines are to be extended approximately 10 km beyond the
coastlines as well as the international boundaries of neighbouring
countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore.

2) Geoid Determination
To provide a precise geoid information for the Malaysian region at 5cm or
2ppm or better accuracy using the acquired airborne gravity data and
combination with the available terrestrial gravity data, other derived
gravity data and digital terrain model.

3) Delivery of Processing Hardware and Software

To install processing hardware, airborne gravity processing software and
geoid computation software at the Geodesy Section, Mapping Division,
Department of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia.

4) Training
To provide training in Airborne Gravimetry and Geoid Computation
Technique.

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Project implementation

The key success factors of airborne gravity survey and geoid determination
project for Malaysia are:

Experienced personnel in airborne gravity and geoid mapping projects

Proper planning and design of the survey
The choice of aircraft with good autopilot system
Precise and accurate equipments
Systematic data acquisition and quality control
Comprehensive data reduction software
Comprehensive geoid computation software

With the above factors in mind, the following tasks have been undertaken by
JUPEM and Goodwill Synergy Sdn. Bhd. in collaboration with its foreign
consultant, i.e., KMS from Denmark:

Project Consortium: A consortium of skilful and experienced people in the field

of airborne gravimetry, GPS positioning, geoid determination and geophysics
was formed to undertake the Malaysian Airborne Gravimetry and Geoid
Mapping Project. The Consortium consists of JUPEM, Goodwill Synergy Sdn
Bhd, National Land Survey and Cadastre (KMS) of Denmark and expertise from
local universities.

Planning and Design of Survey: For the gravity survey, a 5 km spacing flight
lines, which follow the shape of the area in order to obtain long flight lines for
good survey design have been planned and executed. These lines were
supplemented by cross-lines in order to assess the quality of the airborne
gravity surveys. The flight lines are to be extended approximately 10 km
beyond the coastlines as well as the international boundaries of neighbouring
countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore.

Choice Of Aircraft: A stable local aircraft with good autopilot and with good
flight dynamic (phugoid motion) at low airspeeds has been used. The aircraft

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also must meet the required specifications and include insurance coverage for
survey personnel and equipments. It must have a Certificate of Air-worthiness
(COA) from Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia (DCA). Antonov-38 aircraft
contracted from Layang-Layang Aerospace Sdn. Bhd. was used extensively for
the airborne gravity data acquisition.

Air-Sea Gravimeter & Other Equipments: Employing the state-of-art LaCoste

and Romberg gravimeters (model S-93 and S-99) to collect the basic airborne
gravity data and to augment these data with an inertial strap-down navigation
system (IMU). The gravimeters have been calibrated and the scale factors are
available. The IMU provides data tagged to dual frequency GPS receivers time
and is logged on a central data logger, which at the same time provides back-up
data logging for the gravimeter.

Airborne Gravity Data Acquisition And Quality Control: Airborne gravity

data has been acquired at a flight speed of 150-250 km/hr with aircraft altitude
of less than 4500 m, typically at 300-1000 m above topography, depending on
weather conditions. Flight paths are recovered and differentially corrected daily
to ensure all lines flown are within specification. The quality of individual flight
data are checked by field computations of single GPS baselines (one rover to
one static), combined with results from one gravimeter. Visual
inspection/plotting will quickly identify problematic data and make the necessary
background information for decisions to re-fly a line.

Airborne Gravity Data Processing And Geoid Computation: Airborne gravity

data has been processed using AG-Suites software from KMS while geoid
determination has been accomplish using GRAVSOFT Package also from
KMS. The final gravimetric geoid will be in the global datum and will fit to GPS-
leveling on local benchmarks to yield a final geoid solution in the Malaysian
vertical datum. Therefore, the above strategies will fulfilled all the requirements
for the implementation of airborne gravity survey and geoid determination with
the two main deliverables of:
2 mGal accuracy of gravity anomaly data at 5 km spacing,
and
relative geoid accuracy of 5 cm and 2 ppm.

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Implementation schedule

Phase I of the project which covers Sabah and Sarawak was implemented in
two stages, i.e., Stage I was implemented in August-December 2002 (refer to
Table 1) and Stage II in February-June 2003 (refer to Table 2). Phase II of the
project which covers Peninsular Malaysia was successfully implemented in
March-October 2003 (refer to Table 3).

Table 1: Project implementation schedule for Phase I: Sabah & Sarawak

(Stage I: August December 2002)
ACTIVITY August September October November Dec
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1 Project implementation
meeting
2 Shipment of equipment
3 Mobilization of personnel
4 Installation and testing of
equipments
5 Airborne gravity data
acquisition
6 Data processing
7 Preliminary geoid
determination
8 Training
Airborne gravimetry
On-site training
Geoid determination
9 Project reporting
Project implementation
schedule
Weekly
Progress 2002
10 Deliverables
Processing hardware and
software
Airborne raw gravity data

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Table 2: Project implementation schedule for Phase I: Sabah and Sarawak

(Stage II: February - June 2003)

ACTIVITY February March April May June

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2
1 Project implementation
meeting
2 Shipment of equipment
and Mobilization of
personnel
3 Installation and testing of
equipments
4 Airborne gravity data
acquisition
5 Data processing
6 Geoid determination
7 Training
On-site training
Geoid determination
8 Project reporting
Weekly report
9 Deliverables
Airborne raw gravity data
Preliminary airborne
gravity and geoid
computation results for
Phase I

Table 3: Project implementation schedule for Phase II: Peninsular Malaysia

(March October 2003)
ACTIVITY March April May September Oct
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 3 4
1 Mobilization of personnel,
equipments and aircraft
2 Airborne gravity data
acquisition
3 Data processing
4 Geoid determination
5 Training
On-site training
Final data processing
Final geoid determination
for Phase I and Phase II
6 Project reporting
Weekly report
Final report for Phase I
and Phase II
7 Deliverables
Airborne raw gravity data
for Phase II
Final airborne gravity and
geoid computation results
for Phase I
Final airborne gravity and
geoid computations
results for Phase II

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