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 gravity field variations as measured by GRACE(-FO)
satellites. 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. To study
these processes, the use of large spatial and inter-annual temporal
filters is needed. To access gravity variations related to the Earth’s
core, surface effects must be corrected, including hydrological, oceanic
or atmospheric loading (Newtonian attraction and mass redistribution).
However, these corrections for surface processes add errors to the
estimates of the residual gravity field variations enclosing deep
Earth’s signals. As our goal is to evaluate the possibility to detect
signals of core origin embedded in the residual gravity field
variations, a quantification of the uncertainty associated with gravity
field products and geophysical models used to minimise the surface
process signatures is necessary. 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. We provide estimates of
Earth’s core signals whose amplitudes are compared with GRACE gravity
field residuals and uncertainties. The results presented here underline
how challenging is to get new information about the dynamics of the
Earth's core via high-resolution, high-accuracy gravity data.