A Factor of 2 Improvement in Global Marine Gravity from Cryosat, Jason-1, and Envisat

准确、可靠、高分辨率的海底测深对海洋学研究的许多方面都是必不可少的。全球水深测量也用于科学界以外的许多领域，包括：地球科学和海底地理的K-1教学；地球科学与板块构造；海洋法；美国海军作战；矿产exploration& # 894;光纤电缆布线规划及公众普遍关心的问题。Sandwell用卫星重力绘制的全球测深图？S组现在被广泛使用，它已经成为公众？面对深渊？谷歌Earth展示。在未来的3到5年里，目前运行的三颗卫星高度计CryoSat、Jason-1和Envisat将提供大量新的海洋重力数据。该项目的目的是利用新数据将全球海洋重力场的精度提高至少两倍，在某些地区提高四倍。鉴于卫星测深技术的广泛应用，这项工作的广泛影响是明显而深远的。

Accurate and reliable, high-resolution seafloor bathymetry is essential to many aspects of oceanographic research. Global bathymetry is also used in many areas outside of the scientific community including: K-1 teaching of earth science and seafloor geography; undergraduate-level earth science and plate tectonics; law of the sea; US Naval operations; mineral exploration; planning of fiber-optic cable routing and general interest by the public. The global bathymetry map derived from satellite gravity by Sandwell?s group is now so widely used that it has become the public ?face of the deep? displayed by Google Earth. Over the next 3 to 5 years, a wealth of new marine gravity data will be provided by three currently operating satellite altimeters CryoSat, Jason-1, and Envisat. This project has the aim of using the new data to improve the accuracy of the global marine gravity field by at least a factor of two and in some areas a factor of four. Given the very wide use of satellite-derived bathymetry, the broader impacts of this work are both evident and profound.