Uncertainty of low-degree space gravimetry observations: surface
processes versus internal signal
Abstract
Space gravity measurements have been mainly used to study the temporal
mass variations at the Earth’s surface and within the mantle.
Nevertheless, mass variations due to the Earth’s core might be
observable in the variations of the gravity field as measured by GRACE
and GRACE-FO satellites. Moreover, a possible correlation between the
time-variable gravity and magnetic fields has been pointed out at
inter-annual time scales. Earth’s core dynamical processes inferred from
geomagnetic field measurements are characterized by large-scale patterns
associated with low spherical harmonic degrees of the potential fields.
Studying Earth’s core processes via gravity field observations involves
the use of large spatial and inter-annual temporal filters. To access
gravity variations related to the Earth’s core, surface effects must be
corrected, including hydrological, oceanic or atmospheric loading. This
study estimates the uncertainty associated with gravity-field products
and geophysical models used to minimise the surface process signatures
in gravity field data. Here, we estimate the dispersion for GRACE
solutions as about 0.34 cm of Equivalent Water Height (EWH) or 20% of
the total signal. Uncertainty for hydrological models is as large as
0.89 to 2.10 cm of EWH. Loading products contain mostly different
signals at inter-annuals time scales. We also show that a remaining
hydrological signal in a very localized region can affect the low-degree
components of the gravity field. The results presented here underline
how challenging is to get new information about the dynamics of the
Earth’s core via high-accuracy gravity data.