The high-resolution gravimetric geoid of North Iberia: NIBGEO

The gravimetric geoid computed in the northern part of Iberia, is presented in this paper. This computation has been performed considering two study windows fitted to the areas with higher density of gravity data, to reduce the computation errors associated to the scarcity of gravity data, as much as possible. The bad influence of a bathymetry with poorer resolution than the topography is also reduced considering the smallest marine area possible. Moreover, the computation of this gravimetric model is based on the most recent geopotential model: EIGEN-GL04C (obtained in 2006). The method used in the computation of the new gravimetric geoid has been the Stokes integral in convolution form. The terrain correction has been applied to the gridded gravity anomalies, to obtain the corresponding reduced anomalies. Also the indirect effect has been taken into account. Thus, a new geoid model has been calculated and it is provided as a data grid in the Geodetic Reference System of 1980, distributed for the northern part of Iberia from 40 to 44 degrees of latitude and -10 to 4 degrees of longitude, on a 161 x 561 regular grid with a mesh size of 1.5' x 1.5'. This new geoid and the previous geoid Iberian Gravimetric Geoid 2005, are compared with the geoid undulations measured for eight points of the European Vertical Reference Network (EUVN) on Iberia. The new geoid shows an improvement in precision and reliability, fitting the geoidal heights of these EUVN points with more accuracy than the previous geoid. Moreover, this new geoid has a smaller standard deviation (12.6 cm) than that obtained by any previous geoid developed for the Iberian area up to date. This geoid obtained for the northern part of Iberia will complement the previously obtained geoid for South Spain and the Gibraltar Strait area; both geoids jointly will give a complete picture of the geoid for Spain and the Gibraltar Strait area. This new model will be useful for orthometric height determination by GPS over this study area, because it will allow orthometric height determination in the mountains and remote areas, in which levelling has many logistic problems. This new model contributes to our knowledge of the geoid, but the surrounding areas must be better known to constrain the lithospheric and mantle models.