The 8th International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG2009) took place at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) from September to October 2009. It was the first ICAG organized as a key comparison in the framework of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM MRA) (CIPM 1999). ICAG2009 was composed of a Key Comparison (KC) as defined by the CIPM MRA, organized by the Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities (CCM) and designated as CCM.G-K1. Participating gravimeters and their operators came from national metrology institutes (NMIs) or their designated institutes (DIs) as defined by the CIPM MRA. A Pilot Study (PS) was run in parallel in order to include gravimeters and their operators from other institutes which, while not signatories of the CIPM MRA, nevertheless play important roles in international gravimetry measurements. The aim of the CIPM MRA is to have international acceptance of the measurement capabilities of the participating institutes in various fields of metrology. The results of CCM.G-K1 thus constitute an accurate and consistent gravity reference traceable to the SI (International System of Units), which can be used as the global basis for geodetic, geophysical and metrological observations of gravity. The measurements performed afterwards by the KC participants can be referred to the international metrological reference, i.e. they are SI-traceable. The ICAG2009 was complemented by a number of associated measurements: the Relative Gravity Campaign (RGC2009), high-precision levelling and an accurate gravity survey in support of the BIPM watt balance project. The major measurements took place at the BIPM between July and October 2009. Altogether 24 institutes with 22 absolute gravimeters (one of the 22 AGs was ultimately withdrawn) and nine relative gravimeters participated in the ICAG/RGC campaign. This paper is focused on the absolute gravity campaign. We review the history of the ICAGs and present the organization, data processing and the final results of the ICAG2009. After almost thirty years of hosting eight successive ICAGs, the CIPM decided to transfer the responsibility for piloting the future ICAGs to NMIs, although maintaining a supervisory role through its Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities.

The design and first results of two free-fall absolute gravimeters are reported: a stationary gravimeter is designed and can be used as a reference system and a portable gravimeter is aimed at field measurements.The determination of the acceleration due to gravity is done interferometrically in both instruments. The whole fringe signal is digitized by a high-speed analogue-to-digital converter, which is locked to a rubidium frequency standard. This fringe recording and processing is novel as compared with commercial free-fall gravimeters, which use an electronic zero-crossing discrimination. Advantages such as the application of a zero-phase-shifting digital filter to the digitized data are depicted. The portable gravimeter's mechanics deviate from the conventional type. Springs are used to accelerate and decelerate the carriage supporting the falling object.A detailed uncertainty budget is given for both gravimeters. The combined standard uncertainty for the portable and for the stationary gravimeter is estimated at 38.8 µGal and 16.6 µGal, respectively. The corresponding statistical uncertainties are 1.6 µGal (over one day of measurement) and 0.6 µGal (over one month of measurement).The different designs and dimensions of the new free-fall gravimeters can help to reveal unknown or so far underestimated systematic effects. The assessments of the uncertainties due to seismic noise and shock vibrations, and electronic phase shifts give validity to this assumption.

This paper reports results of comparison of three digital fringe signal processing methods implemented in the same free-fall absolute gravimeter. A two-sample zero-crossing method, a windowed second-difference method and a method of non-linear least-squares adjustment on the undersampled fringe signal are compared in numerical simulations, hardware tests and actual measurements with the MPG-2 absolute gravimeter, developed at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany. The two-sample zero-crossing method realizes data location schemes that are both equally spaced in distance and equally spaced in time (EST) along the free-fall trajectory. The windowed second-difference method and the method of non-linear least-squares adjustment with complex heterodyne demodulation operate with the EST data. Results of the comparison verify an agreement of the three methods within one part in 10 9 of the measured gravity value, provided a common data location scheme is considered.

No abstract

The MPG-2 (Max-Planck-Gravimeter) is a transportable absolute gravimeter built on a classical free-fall scheme to measure the local gravity value. With significant improvements and further investigations in recent years, the standard deviation of the mean for a typical measurement over 12 h to 24 h is 1.0 µGal to 3.0 µGal (1 µGal = 10−8 m s−2), and the combined standard uncertainty is estimated to be less than 10 µGal. The major improvements include the new interferometer design and alignment, longer drop length, reduced recoil effects and demagnetization of the falling body. The revised uncertainty budget and new measurement results of MPG-2 are reported. The results of observations at the reference gravity station Bad Homburg confirmed the revised uncertainty budget.