GOCE: The Earth Gravity Field by Space Gradiometry

An artificial satellite, flying in a purely gravitational field is a natural probe, such that, by a very accurate orbit determination, would allow a perfect estimation of the field. A true satellite experiences a number of perturbational, non-gravitational forces acting on the shell of the spacecraft; these can be revealed and accurately measured by a spaceborne accelerometer. If more accelerometers are flown in the same satellite, they naturally eliminate (to some extent) the common perturbational accelerations and their differences are affected by the second derivatives of the gravity fields only (gradiometry). The mission GOCE is based on this principle. Its peculiar dynamical observation equations are reviewed. The possibility of estimating the gravity field up to some harmonic degree (∼200) is illustrated.