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GOCE’s ‘heart’ starts beating

8 April 2009

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Forming the heart of GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), the gravity gradiometer consists of three pairs of identical ultra-sensitive accelerometers, mounted on three mutually orthogonal 'arms'. One of the arms is aligned with the satellite’s trajectory, one pointing towards the centre of the Earth, and the third is perpendicular to the other two. This allows the simultaneous measurement of six independent but complementary components of the gravity field.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

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GOCE will provide the dataset required to accurately determine global and regional models of Earth's gravity field and geoid. It will advance research in ocean circulation, physics of Earth's interior, geodesy and surveying, and sea-level change.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

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The animation is based on available gravity measurements and shows the information GOCE will be providing us with. Simplified, it shows how the geoid represents deviations from the Earth's elipsoid. Although it has 'highs'and 'lows'- it is a surface of equal gravitational potential. Therefore, if an object were placed on the surface it would not move.

Credits: DLR

GOCE launch