Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Superconducting gravity gradiometer for space and terrestrial applications

Journal Article · · J. Appl. Phys.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.337474· OSTI ID:6994232
A three-axis superconducting gravity gradiometer with a potential sensitivity better than 10/sup -3/ Eoetvoes Hz/sup -1//sup ///sup 2/ is currently under development for applications in space. Although such a high sensitivity may be needed for only a limited number of terrestrial applications, superconductivity offers many extraordinary effects which can be used to obtain a gravity gradiometer with other characteristics necessary for operation in a hostile moving-base environment. Utilizing a number of recently devised techniques which rely on certain properties of superconductors, we have produced a design for a sensitive yet rugged gravity gradiometer with a high degree of stability and a common-mode rejection ratio greater than 10/sup 9/. With a base line of 0.11 m, a sensitivity of 0.1 Eoetvoes Hz/sup -1//sup ///sup 2/ is expected in an environment monitored to a level of 10/sup -2/ m s/sup -2/ Hz/sup -1//sup ///sup 2/ for linear vibration and 7 x 10/sup -6/ rad s/sup -1/ Hz/sup -1//sup ///sup 2/ for angular vibration. A conventional stabilized platform can be used at this level. The intrinsic noise level, which is two orders of magnitude lower, could be achieved by monitoring the attitude with a superconducting angular accelerometer which is under development. In addition, the new gradiometer design has the versatility of adapting the instrument to different gravity biases by adjusting stored dc currents.
Research Organization:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742
OSTI ID:
6994232
Journal Information:
J. Appl. Phys.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Appl. Phys.; (United States) Vol. 60:12; ISSN JAPIA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Superconducting techniques for gravity survey and inertial navigation
Conference · Thu Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1985 · IEEE Trans. Magn.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6484641

Superconducting gravity gradiometers
Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1977 · AIP Conf. Proc.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5153190

Preliminary tests of a newly developed superconducting gravity gradiometer
Journal Article · Sun May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983 · IEEE Trans. Magn.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5595451