Wp 13 = 5 : 15 Gravity Gradient Measurements

The problem of rotation corrections for hard mounted gravity gradiometers is widely regarded as intractable. In large part this is due to the unavailability of sufficiently accurate star sensors, gyros, and angular accelerometers. It will be shown here that, for floated satellite gradiometers, subject to very low levels of unmodeled forces and torques, dynamic estimation can dramatically reduce rotation correction errors. The filter structure is developed, and the value of factorization techniques is examined. Numerical examples are given for a few practical cases employing plausible instrument ensembles. To achieve these early results, great simplifications have been made, and important error sources have been suppressed.