gradiometry

The main relations for determining the harmonic coefficients of the distribution of the Earth's gravitational potential according to the GOCE satellite data

The last achievements of the physical geodesy is the project of European Space Agency – the GOCE satellite (Gravity of field and steady – state of Ocean Circulation Explorer) which uses the satellite gradientometry method. The gravitational field of the Earth is represented traditionally as a series of spherical harmonic functions, i.e. to model the gravitational field of the finite number of parameters, the so–called coefficients Cnm, Snm. In this paper we analyze the basic relationships for the determination of these coefficients.