Patent ID: 8359920
Filing Date: 2013-01-29
Classification: G01V

Abstract:
1. A gravity gradiometer instrument having a gyro-stabilized platform for maintaining a selected orientation with regard to a local gravity field and of a type that outputs a lower-order gravity-gradient signal having respective first and second higher-order gravity-related signal components associated therewith and having further instrumentation associated therewith for determining said respective higher-order gravity-related signal components, comprising: a gyro-stabilized platform for maintaining said selected orientation with regard to the local gravity field; a rotatably mounted accelerometer arrangement including six accelerometers arranged at an equal spacing from a spin axis and at an equi-angular spacing about the spin axis, a sensing axis of each accelerometer aligned substantially tangentially to a circle subscribed by the accelerometers as they rotate about the spin axis; means for isolating and extracting said respective higher-order gravity-related signal components in accordance with wherein A R: radius of the circle, W Ω: spin rate of the accelerometers, and; means for combining said respective higher-order gravity related signal components with corresponding first and second lower-order gravity related signal components to substantially attenuate the respective higher-order gravity related signal components in said first and second lower-order gravity-related signal components.