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GOCE giving new insights into Earth’s gravity

29 June 2010

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The first global gravity model based on GOCE satellite data was presented at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium. Based on only two months of data, from November and December 2009, it illustrates the excellent capability of GOCE to map tiny variations in Earth’s gravity field.

Credits: ESA – GOCE High Level Processing Facility

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Chairman of the GOCE Mission Advisory Group and Head of the Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy at the Technische Universität München Prof. Reiner Rummel presented the GOCE status and first global gravity model at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium in Bergen, Norway.

Credits: ESA - T. Schönfelder

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The first geoid based on only two months of GOCE data, from November and December 2009, shows the excellent capability of the satellite to map tiny variations in Earth’s gravity. The geoid is the shape of an imaginary global ocean dictated by gravity in the absence of tides and currents. It is a crucial reference for accurately measuring ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice dynamics – all affected by climate change. An accurate model of the geoid is also important for surveying and geodesy, and for studying Earth interior processes.

Credits: ESA

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The need for GOCE to fly in a low orbit means it has to compensate for the atmospheric drag it experiences at this exceptionally low altitude. The animation shows a close-up of the ion-propulsion assembly, which keeps the satellite in a smooth trajectory – free from all effects except those of gravity itself. Two winglets provide additional aerodynamic stability.

Credits: ESA /AOES Medialab

Living Planet Symposium 2010