Determination of the Selected Gravity Field Functionals by the GGI Method: A Case Study of the Western Carpathians Area

Abstract

In this paper, some features of the local disturbing potential model developed by the GGI method (based on Geophysical Gravity Inversion) were analyzed. The model was developed for the area of the Western Carpathians covering the Polish–Slovak border. A detailed assessment of the model’s property was made regarding the accuracy of the disturbing potential values (height anomalies), gravity values, complete Bouguer anomalies (CBA), and differences between geoid undulations and height anomalies (N−ζ). Obtained accuracies of the GGI quasigeoid model (in terms of standard deviation of the residuals to the reference quasigeoid models) were at the level of ±2.2 cm for Poland and ±0.9 cm for the Slovak area. In terms of gravity, there was shown dependence of the accuracy of the GGI model on the digital elevation model (DEM) resolution, the point height, the density of gravity data used, and used reference density of topography model. The best obtained results of gravity prediction were characterized by an error of approximately 1 mGal. The GGI approach were compared with classical gravity prediction methods (using CBA and topographic-isostatic anomalies supported by Kriging prediction), getting very similar results. On the basis of the GGI model, CBA and differences (N−ζ) were also determined. The strong dependence of resolution of the CBA model obtained by GGI approach, on the size of the constant density zones, has been demonstrated. This significantly reduces the quality of such a model. The crucial importance of the topographic masses density model for both determined values (CBA and (N−ζ)) was also indicated. Therefore, for determining these quantities, all available information on topographic mass densities should be used in modelling.