Review of the Research Progress on Static Earth Gravity Field and Vertical Datum in China during 2019—2023

The contribution presents the representative research progress on global static gravity field modeling,regional geoid/quasigeoid determination,vertical datum study,as well as the theory,algorithm and software for gravity field study in China from 2019 to 2023,which are the highlights of the chapter 6“Progress in Earth Gravity Model and Vertical Datum”in the“2019—2023 China National Report on Geodesy”that submitted to the International Association of Geodesy(IAG).In addition,suggestions are proposed to promote the research in the fields of earth gravity field,geoid/quasigeoid and vertical datumin China according to trends of international geodesy and related disciplines.

Determination of Geopotential of Local Vertical Datum Surface

This paper first develops the approaches to determine the geopotential of the local mean sea level,and then investigates the offset of the 1985 vertical datum surface defined by the mean sea level of Yellow Sea at the Dagang Tide Gauge in Qingdao city using the developed approaches and GPS/leveling data.It shows that the geopotential of the local mean sea level at the tide gauge is equal to 62 636 853.5±0.2 m2·s -2 and that the 1985 vertical datum surface is 24.6±5.4 cm above the geoid realized by the geopotential W 0= 62 636 856.0±0.5 m2·s -2.

Recent Advances in Marine Geodesy of China

The ocean accounts for approximately 71%of the total area of the Earth.Whether it is studying the shape of the Earth itself through geodesy or the future development of earth system science,strengthening the construction of ocean geodesy disciplines and innovating ocean geodetic observation technologies have evident theoretical and practical significance.In recent years,the discipline of ocean geodesy in China has been continuously developing and growing,and notable breakthroughs have been made in ocean satellite geodesy and seafloor geodetic observation technology.Research on ocean geodetic observation models and algorithms has also made great progress.

Evaluation of the geopotential value W_0^(LVD) of China

Estimation of the zero-height geopotential value W_0^（LVD） for the CVD（China Vertical Datum） plays a fundamental role in the connection of traditional height reference systems into a global height system.Estimation the W_0^（LVD） of China is based on the computation of the mean geopotential offset between the value W_0= 62636856.0 m^2 s^（-2）, selected as reference in this study, and the unknown geopotential value W_0^（LVD）. This estimation is based on the combination of ellipsoidal heights, levelled heights（referring to the CVD）, and some physical parameters, such as geopotential values, gravity values, and geoid undulations.The geoid undulations derived from the GGM（Global Geopotential Models）. This combination is performed through three approaches： The first one is based on the theory of Molodensky, and the second one compares levelled heights and geopotential values derived from the GGMs, while the third one analyses the differences between GPS/Levelling and GGMs geoid undulations. The approaches are evaluated at 65 benchmarks（BMs） covered around Qingdao where the tide gauge is used to observe the local mean sea level of China. The results from three approaches are very similar. Furthermore, the W_0^（LVD）determined for the China local vertical datum was 62636852.9462 m^2 s^（-2）, indicates a bias of about3.0538 m^2/s^（-2） compared to the conventional value of 62636856.0 m^2 s^（-2）.

Towards a New Geoid Model of Tanzania Using Precise Gravity Data

The new geoid model of Tanzania is a major breakthrough in the determination of vertical heights for the past 60 years. A new geoid model has been computed using precise gravity data supplemented with marine gravity data from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment （GRACE） satellite and new high-resolution satellite gravity data from Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer （GOCE）. A digital terrain model was also used based on 15＂ Shuttle and Rader Terrain Model （SRTM） data. The use of gravity data makes an orthometric height easily computed using Global Navigation Satellite System （GNSS）. The GNSS is being used in many African countries including Tanzania and soon it will replace conventional leveling technique and avoid frequent maintenance of benchmarks. This paper presents preliminary result of a new geoid model which shows that by using precious gravity data and Remove-Compute-Restore technique, an accuracy of 10 cm can be reached.