Advances and Challenges in the Development and Deployment of Gravity Gradiometer Systems

The past few years have witnessed significant advances and unparalleled interest in gravity gradiometer instrument technology as well as new deployment scenarios for various applications. Gravity gradiometry is now routinely considered as a viable component for resource exploration activities as well as being deployed for global information gathering. Since the introduction of the torsion balance in the 1890’s, it has been recognized that gravity gradient information is valuable – yet difficult and time-consuming to obtain. This paper will summarize advances in gradient sensor development, and will also look at deployment scenarios and gradiometer systems that have been successfully fielded. Finally, we will briefly address the most significant challenges associated with improved gravity gradiometer operational capability including instrument and system intrinsic noise, vehicle dynamic noise, terrain noise, geologic noise and other noise sources.