Applying the GOCE-based GGMs for the quasi-geoid modelling of Finland

Abstract

AbstractThe gravity satellite mission GOCE made its final observations in the fall of 2013. Since the re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere, the full cycle of the GOCE data has been published by ESA. At first, we evaluated all the GOCE-based global geoid models over Finland using terrestrial gravity and GNSS-levelling data. The most suitable model was selected as a global background model for the Finnish quasi-geoid calculations.Next, we combined the chosen model with terrestrial gravity data of Finland and surrounding areas. Quasi-geoid models with different modifications were calculated using the GOCE DIR5 model up to spherical harmonic degree and order (d/o) 240 and 300, and the high resolution EIGEN-6C4 (includes the complete GOCE data) model up to degree and order 1000 and 2190.The calculated quasi-geoid models were validated to the measurements on site with two independent GPS-levelling datasets. The best quasi-geoid models with GOCE gave standard deviations of 2.6 cm (FIN_DIR5 d/o 240) and 2.3 cm (FIN_DIR5 d/o 300) in Finland. For the high resolution model FIN_EIGEN-6C4, the results were 1.8 cm (d/o 1000) and 1.7 cm (d/o 2190). In addition, the results were compared with the latest geoid models available in Finland (FIN2005N00, NKG2004, NKG2015, EGG2008). The sub-2-centimetre (and near 2 cm, when using the GOCE-based models) accuracy is an improvement over the previous and current Finnish geoid models.