Gravity surveys using a mobile atom interferometer.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31523711.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aax0800 and PMC identifier 6731071.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Mobile gravimetry is important in metrology, navigation, geodesy, and geophysics. Atomic gravimeters could be among the most accurate mobile gravimeters but are currently constrained by being complex and fragile. Here, we demonstrate a mobile atomic gravimeter, measuring tidal gravity variations in the laboratory and surveying gravity in the field. The tidal gravity measurements achieve a sensitivity of 37 μGal/ <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mrow> <mrow><msqrt><mtext>Hz</mtext></msqrt> </mrow> </mrow> </math> (1 μGal = 10 nm/s<sup>2</sup>) and a long-term stability of better than 2 μGal, revealing ocean tidal loading effects and recording several distant earthquakes. We survey gravity in the Berkeley Hills with an uncertainty of around 0.04 mGal and determine the density of the subsurface rocks from the vertical gravity gradient. With simplicity and sensitivity, our instrument paves the way for bringing atomic gravimeters to field applications.