Accurate computation of geoid-quasigeoid separation in mountainous region – A case study in Colorado with full extension to the experimental geoid region

Abstract The geoid-quasigeoid separation (GQS) traditionally uses the Bouguer anomalies to approximate the difference between the mean gravity and normal gravity along the plumb line. This approximation is adequate in flat and low elevation areas, but not in high and rugged mountains. To increase the accuracy, higher order terms of the corrections (potential and gravity gradient) to the approximation were computed in Colorado where the 1 cm geoid computation experiment was conducted. Over an area of 730 km by 560 km where the elevation ranges between 932 and 4,385 m, the potential correction (Pot. Corr.) reaches −0.190 m and its root mean square (RMS) is 0.019 m. The gravity gradient correction is small but has high variation: the RMS of the correction is merely 0.003 m but varies from −0.025 to 0.020 m. In addition, the difference between the Bouguer gravity anomaly and gravity disturbance causes about a 0.01 m bias and a maximum correction of 0.02 m. The total corrections range from −0.135 to 0.180 m, with an RMS value of 0.019 m for the region. The magnitude of the corrections is large enough and is not negligible considering today’s cm-geoid requirement. After the test in Colorado, the complete GQS term is computed in 1′ × 1′ grids for the experimental geoid 2020 (xGEOID20), which covers a region bordered by latitude 0–85° north, longitude 180–350° east. Over the land areas, the RMS of the GQS is 0.119 m and the maximum reaches 1.3 m. The RMS of the GQS increases with respect to the height until 4,000 m, then decreases unexpectedly. At the highest peaks (5,500–6,000 m) of Denali and Mount Logan, the RMS of the GQS ranges between 0.08 and 0.189 m. The small GQS at these high peaks are caused by steep slopes around the peaks that produce large Pot. Corr. caused by the topography. In addition, the higher order correction terms reach half of a meter in those peaks.