Balloon-Borne, High Altitude Gravimetry: The Flight of DUCKY II (October 1985)

摘要

Gravity measurements from a high-altitude balloon were made in October 1985 to verify global and upward-continued gravity models. This was the second flight in a series, and was intended to (1) test the use of differential GPS tracking; and (2) measure gravity at altitude. A balloon operates in a largely unpredictable environment, where little, if any ground truth data are available. The motions of the balloon must be very accurately accounted for in gravity estimation. The experimental package contained a full complement of inertial sensors, radar transponder, a GPS receiver, and gravimeter. THe first flight in October 1983 showed that tracking was the most difficult problem; the second flight included differential GPS tracking to overcome that problem. The flight was successful with GPS tracking and gravity measurements. Keywords: Global positioning system; Gravimetry. (EDC)