New high‐resolution model developed for Earth's gravitational field

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Abstract
After 3 years of intense work by some two dozen collaborating scientists at three institutions and after scores of evaluation tests, the Earth Gravitational Model 1996 (EGM96) was completed and released to the scientific community in September 1996. This model was developed jointly by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA, formerly the Defense Mapping Agency), and The Ohio State University.EGM96 provides a more accurate reference surface for the topography, improves models of the ocean circulation, improves orbit determination for low‐orbiting satellites, and contributes to global and regional studies in tectonics and geodynamics. The new spherical harmonic model, is complete to degree 360, corresponding to a global resolution of about 55 km. EGM96 incorporates newly released surface gravity data from around the globe, over three decades of precise satellite tracking data and altimeter measurements of the ocean surface from the TOPEX/POSEIDON, ERS‐1 and GEOSAT missions. Figure l a shows a global map of the geoid undulations implied by EGM96, while Figure l b shows the corresponding gravity anomaly field.

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