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GOCE at a glance The first of a seriesLooking into the forces that shape our planet A technological achievementAn intimate portrait of EarthFacts and figures About the spacecraft About the launch Meet the team Multimedia Image galleryVideosAnimationsOnline resourcesServices
| | | | | | | Looking into the forces that shape our planet
Building a picture of the gravity field
Clarified by Isaac Newton in the 17th century, gravity is a fundamental force of nature. Everything that has mass is pulled by gravity. As Earth is not a perfect sphere and its interior has layers and zones of different density, gravity varies around the globe.
Gravity and its variation in space are fundamental for every dynamic process on Earth’s surface and in its interior. Improving our knowledge of how gravity affects the interaction between these processes has practical benefits in today’s changing world.
An accurate gravity map – the geoid – is also crucial for geodesy applications and for defining a sea surface height reference model with which to accurately survey ocean circulation patterns and sea-level changes.
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| | Special features  GOCE: ESA's gravity mission
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