A G-Modified Helmholtz Equation with New Expansions for the Earth’s Disturbing Gravitational Potential, Its Functionals and the Study of Isogravitational Surfaces

Abstract

The G-modified Helmholtz equation is a partial differential equation that enables us to express gravity intensity g as a series of spherical harmonics having radial distance r in irrational powers. The Laplace equation in three-dimensional space (in Cartesian coordinates, is the sum of the second-order partial derivatives of the unknown quantity equal to zero) is used to express the Earth’s gravity potential (disturbing and normal potential) in order to represent other useful quantities—which are also known as functionals of the disturbing potential—such as gravity disturbance, gravity anomaly, and geoid undulation as a series of spherical harmonics. We demonstrate that by using the G-modified Helmholtz equation, not only gravity intensity but also disturbing potential and its functionals can be expressed as a series of spherical harmonics. Having gravity intensity represented as a series of spherical harmonics allows us to create new Global Gravity Models. Furthermore, a more detailed examination of the Earth’s isogravitational surfaces is conducted. Finally, we tabulate our results, which makes it clear that new Global Gravity Models for gravity intensity g will be very useful for many geophysical and geodetic applications.