XGM2019e: Global Gravity Field Model with 4 km Resolution

XGM2019e is a global gravity field model represented by spheroidal harmonics up to degree/order 5399, corresponding to a spatial resolution of about 4 kilometers. It combines the satellite model GOCO06s for longer wavelengths with terrestrial gravity anomalies and data derived from satellite altimetry and topography. The model was developed by Philipp Zingerle of the Technical University of Munich.

Use Cases

• Improving geoid and height system modeling based on the combined satellite-terrestrial gravity data.
• Analyzing Earth's crustal structure and density variations based on high-resolution gravity anomalies.
• Validating and comparing global gravity field models using independent GPS leveling data as mentioned in the description.
• Supporting satellite orbit determination and gravity field recovery based on the integrated satellite model data.

Strengths

• Model resolution of 2 arcminutes (~4 km) as explicitly stated.
• Combines multiple data sources: satellite model GOCO06s, terrestrial gravity anomalies, topographic data (EARTH2014), and satellite altimetry (DTU13).
• Shows improved performance over oceans throughout the complete spectrum compared to preceding models.
• Described as globally more homogeneous and independent from existing high-resolution global models.

Limitations

• Over land and above degree/order 719, accuracy suffers from the sole use of topographic forward modeling, increasing errors in well-surveyed areas.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality, file formats, and size require manual inspection after download.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred.

Provenance

Source

Technical University of Munich

Collection Method

Combination of satellite model (GOCO06s) with terrestrial gravity measurements and data derived from topography and satellite altimetry via full normal equations and block-diagonal least-squares solutions.

Geography

Global