Scientific Reports (Mar 2024)

Geophysical survey based on hybrid gravimetry using relative measurements and an atomic gravimeter as an absolute reference

  • Nathan Shettell,
  • Kai Sheng Lee,
  • Fong En Oon,
  • Elizaveta Maksimova,
  • Christoph Hufnagel,
  • Shengji Wei,
  • Rainer Dumke

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57253-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Gravimetry is a versatile metrological approach in geophysics to accurately map subterranean mass and density anomalies. There is a broad diversification regarding the working principle of gravimeters, wherein atomic gravimeters are one of the most technologically progressive class of gravimeters which can monitor gravity at an absolute scale with a high-repetition without exhibiting drift. Despite the apparent utility for geophysical surveys, atomic gravimeters are (currently) laboratory-bound devices due to the vexatious task of transportation. Here, we demonstrated the utility of an atomic gravimeter on-site during a gravity survey, where the issue of immobility was circumvented with a relative spring gravimeter. The atomic gravimeter served as a means to map the relative data from the spring gravimeter to an absolute measurement with an effective precision of 7.7 $${\upmu }$$ μ Gal. Absolute measurements provide a robust and feasible method to define and control gravity data taken at different sites, or a later date, which is critical to analyze underground geological units, in particular when it is combined with other geophysical approaches.