GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 1

LECTURE 3: EARTH’S FIGURE, GRAVITY, AND GEOID

Earth’s shape, tides, sea level, internal structure, and internal dynamics, are all
controlled by gravitational forces. To understand gravitation and how it affects
Earth, we start with Newton’s laws:

Gravitational Pote ntial

For a point mass:
r r mM
Newton’s law of gravitation: F = ma = "G 2
r
M
Then the acceleration due to gravity is: g = "G 2 r
r
The work by a force F on an object !moving a distance dr in the direction of the
force is: ! dW = Fdr
The change in potential energy is: dEp = -dW = -Fdr
The gravitational potential UG is the potential energy per unit mass in a
gravitational field. Thus: mdUG = "Fdr = "mgdr
r r %$ $ $ (
Then the gravitational acceleration is: g = "#U = "' , , *U
& $x $y $z )
! M
The gravitational potential is given by: UG = "G
r
!

For a distribution of mass: !

If a mass is distributed within a body of volume V, then we can integrate to find
r
the total potential: UG = "G $
#r
dV
()
V r

For the special case of a spherical shell of thickness t, applying this integral
GM
yields: UG = " as if!the sphere were concentrated at the center.
r
GM
Thus, everywhere outside a sphere of mass M: UG = "
r
!

Clint Conrad 3-1 ! University of Hawaii

 GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 2

Centrifugal Potential
For a rotating body such as Earth, a portion of gravitational self-attraction
drives a centripetal acceleration toward the center of the Earth. When viewed in
the frame of the rotating body, the body experiences a centrifugal acceleration
away from the Earth’s axis of rotation. ω
d# v ac
Angular velocity: " = = where x = r sin" x
dt x
v2 θ r
Centrifugal acceleration: ac = " 2 x =
x
r r !
But a = "#!U , so we can calculate the
c c

centrifugal potential
! by integrating:
1 1
! Uc = " # 2 x 2 = " # 2r 2 sin2 $
2 2

! Figure of the Earth

Earth’s actual surface is an equipotential surface (sea level), a surface for which
UG + Uc = constant . The figure of the Earth a smooth surface that approximates

this shape and upon which more complicated topography can be represented.

! The earth approximates an oblate spheroid, which means it is elliptically-shaped

with a longer equatorial radius than a polar radius.
The flattening (or oblateness) is
the ratio of the difference in
radii to the equatorial radius:

a"b
f=
a

For earth, f=0.00335287, or 1/298.252, and

! the difference in the polar and equatorial radii is about 21 km.

Clint Conrad 3-2 University of Hawaii

 GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 3

The Internati onal Reference Ellipsoid is an ellipsoid with dimensions:

Equatorial Radius: a = 6378.136 km
Polar Radius c = 6356.751 km
Radius of Equivalent Sphere: R = 6371.000 km
Flattening f = 1/298.252
aC " 2a3
Acceleration Ratio m= = = 1/ 288.901
aG GME
C"A
Moment of Inertia Ratio H= = 1/ 305.457
C
! that the flattening should be: f=1/299.7
Hydrostatic equilibrium predicts

This is smaller than the observed

! flattening by about 113 m [see Chambat et al.,

Flattening of the Earth: further from hydrostaticity than previously estimated, Geophys. J. Int., 183, 727-732, 2010].

The gravitational potential of an ellipsoid is given by:

ME ( 2
)(
C " A 3cos # " 1 ME )
C"A ( )
UG = "G
r
"G
r3 2
= "G
r
" G
r3
P2 cos # ( )
where A and C are the moments of inertia
z
! about the equatorial and polar axes.
More generally: P
# ) # 2 &
ME % R& θ
UG = "G 1" * % ( JnPn cos + ( ( ) O
r % n=2 $ r ' ( y
$ '

Where Pn are the Legendre polynomials

x
! and the coefficients Jn are measured for
C"A
Earth. The most important is the dynamical form factor: J2 = 2
= 1082.6 # 10"6
ME R

The next term, J3, describes pear-shaped variations:

! a ~17 m bulge at North
pole and ~7 m bulges at mid-southern latitudes (~1000 times smaller than J2)

Clint Conrad 3-3 University of Hawaii

 GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 4

The gravitational potential of the Earth (the geopotential) is given by:

1 GM G % 3cos2 $ " 1( 1
Ug = UG " # 2r 2 sin2 $ = " + 3 (C " A)' * " # 2r 2 sin2 $
2 r r & 2 ) 2

The geopotential is a constant (U0) everywhere on the reference ellipsoid. Then:

GM G 1
! At the equator: U0 = " + 3 (C " A) " # 2a2
a 2a 2
GM G
At the pole: U0 = " + 3 (C " A)
c c
! a " c (C " A) # a2 2c & 1 a2c) 2 3 1
Then: f= = % + ( + * J 2 + m
c MEa2 $ c 2 a ' 2 GME 2 2
!
Where we have approximated a~c on the right hand side.

!
Gravity on the Reference Ellipsoid
c
(
To first order: r = a 1" f sin2 # ) g
r
Geocentric latitude = λ λ λg
a
(measured
! from center of mass)
Geographic latitude = λg

(in common use)

To first order: sin2 " # sin2 "g $ f sin2 2"g

r r
The acceleration
! of gravity on the reference ellipsoid is given by: g = " # Ug
2 2
GM 3GMEa J2 3sin # " 1
Performing this differentiation gives: g = 2 " 2
" $ 2r cos2 #
r r 2
* # 3 & !-
Rewriting and simplifying gives: g = ge ,1+ %2m " J2 ( sin2 ) /
+ $ 2 ' .
! * #5 17 & #f 2 5 & -
Writing in terms of λg gives: g = ge ,1+ % m " f " mf ( sin2 )g + % " mf ( sin2 2)g /
,+ $ 2 14 ' $8 8 ' /.
!
[
g = 9.780327 1+ 0.0053024sin2 "g + 0.0000059sin2 2"g ]
GM # 3 &
Equatorial gravity is: ! ge = 2 %1" J 2 " m( = 9.780327 m/s
2

a $ 2 '
!
This allows us to compute the polar gravity: gp = 9.832186 m/s2

!
Clint Conrad 3-4 University of Hawaii
!
GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 5

The poleward increase in gravity is 5186 mgal, and thus only about 0.5% of the
absolute value (gravity is typically measured in units of mgal = 10-5 m/s2).
Gravity decreases toward to pole because the pole:
(1) is closer to the center of Earth than the equator (6600 mgal)
(2) does not experience centrifugal acceleration (3375 mgal)
But the equator has more mass (because of the bulge), which increases the
equatorial gravity. Together these three affects yield the 5186 mgal difference.

Earth’s Geoid

The geoid is the equipotential surface that defines sea level, and is expressed
relative to the reference ellipsoid. Temporal variations in the geoid are caused
by lateral variations in the internal densities of the Earth, and by the distribution
of masses (primarily hydrological) upon the surface of the Earth.

Mass excess (either subsurface excess

density or positive topography)

deflects the geoid upwards.

Clint Conrad 3-5 University of Hawaii

GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 6

Clint Conrad 3-6 University of Hawaii

 GG612 Lecture 3 2/1/11 7

Sphe rical Harmonics

The geoid (and any function on a sphere) can be expressed in terms of spherical
( ) (
harmonics of degree n and order m: Ynm = anm cos m" + bnm sinm" Pnm cos # )

Top view !

Side view

Top view

Side view

The power spectrum of the

geoid is given by:
n
Pn = " (a 2
nm
2
+ bnm )
m=0

The dominance of the

! low-harmonic degrees in
the geoid power spectrum
indicate that the dominant
shape of the geoid is controlled
by structures deep within the
mantle.

Clint Conrad 3-7 University of Hawaii