oa The Role of Gravity Gradiometry in the Rremote Sensing Tool Kit

The natural variations in Earth’s gravitational field can provide the explorationist with information on the density variations in the subsurface. With careful consideration, and often integration with other data, this can in turn be used to improve our understanding of the geological setting and where valuable resources may be found. The use of gravity measurements has long been present in exploration geophysics. Originally this involved the field geophysicist walking the ground with the instrumentation to record the data. However, advances were made allowing the measurements to be taken from a moving platform far above the surface (sea, air, or satellite). As the gravity technique is passive, recording only the natural properties of Earth it is well suited to a remote sensing deployment. This reduces cost and allows large areas to be covered quickly, safely and with no direct contact with the ground.