Vibration Analysis for Airborne Gravimetry

The quasi continuous measurement of gravity over wide areas is for geophysical applications a very important task. The sea gravimetry permits there measurements on water surfaces with good performances. Greater freedom in the measurement area is given by the airborne gravimetry. Due to the complexity of the dynamics of an aircraft, the application of this method is still an open research field. At the Institute for Geodesy and Photogrammetry of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, this topic is studied in order to measure quasi continuous gravity values over Swiss territory. The project involved the study of many different problems associsated with airborne gravimetry. In this report the influence of the vibrations of the aircraft on the meter system is analyzed.
The flights were performed with a Twin Otter Series 300 (De Havilland Canada) of the „Vermessungsdirektion (VD) des EJPD“ with the cooperation of the „Bundesamt für Militärflugplätze (BAMF)“, „Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt (BAZL)“ and the „Bundesamt für Militärflugwesen und Fliegerabwehr (BAFF)“. The gravity meter system was rented from LaCoste & Romberg Gravity Meters Inc. Scientists of LaCoste & Romberg were involved in the development and installation of the meter system in the aircraft.