Understanding gravity gradiometry processing and interpretation through the Kauring test site data

Abstract

The Kauring Gravity Gradiometry Test site offers a unique opportunity to understand the information content of various types of gravity gradient measurements and the required processing and interpretation techniques. In this paper, we utilize the measured ground vertical gravity data to simulate realistic airborne gravity gradiometry data from several current and future systems using an equivalent-source technique. We then invert these simulated data for the underlying density contrast and evaluate the performance of these inversions. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of equivalent-source based method for data conversion in the presence of scattered observations. The major density features recovered from the optimally converted gradient data are highly consistent with those from the original ground gravity.