Gravity surveys using a mobile atom interferometer

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/Hz (1 μGal = 10 nm/s2) 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.

Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat

“…Developments in quantum technology have resulted in the ability to cool atoms close to absolute zero using lasers [4], which is fundamental to cold atom interferometers (CAIs). CAIs have a range of applications from precisely measuring the Earth's gravitational field [4] to studying the principles of fundamental physics [5].…”

“…Developments in quantum technology have resulted in the ability to cool atoms close to absolute zero using lasers [4], which is fundamental to cold atom interferometers (CAIs). CAIs have a range of applications from precisely measuring the Earth's gravitational field [4] to studying the principles of fundamental physics [5]. Measuring the Earth's gravitational field is useful to aid ground based geological exploration [4], space based Earth observation [6] and can even be used to enhance navigation systems [4], where Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are denied.…”

Differential interferometry using a Bose-Einstein condensate

“…Atom interferometers have various applications in many different fields like fundamental physics [1][2][3][4][5][6], geodesy [7][8][9][10], and inertial sensing [11]. Exploiting cold or ultracold atomic ensembles, they serve to precisely measure rotations [12][13][14][15], accelerations [10,16,17], and gravity gradients [18,19].…”

New Results from Strapdown Airborne Gravimetry Using Temperature Stabilisation

“…Later on, gravimeters have been designed for airborne applications [5][6][7], bringing along improvements in both resolution and accuracy of the gravity estimates. In recent years, quantum gravimeters have also been used for dynamic gravity observations [8,9]. However, since the price tag reflects both the market and production efforts, airborne-dedicated systems are usually more expensive.…”