The objective of the Airborne Quantum Gravimetry (AirQuantumGrav) campaign was to pursue the quantum technological benefits of airborne gravimetry, which offers stability, absolute measurements and does not need calibration. For this purpose, the GIRAFE cold-atom accelerometer developed by ONERA was installed onboard a fixed-wing aircraft for a campaign in Iceland during the period 24 June 2023 to 9 July 2023. To provide a reference, the iMAR strapdown gravimeter from DTU space was also installed alongside the cold-atom gravimeter.

What was the outcome of AirQuantumGrav 2023?

Data collected during the campaign have been prepared as level 0, 1 and 2 products, enabling users to work with the data from any desired processing level. The final along-track gravity estimates are provided at three different filter lengths for both gravity sensors, yielding results at the 1 mGal level.

A forward computation based on terrestrial gravity observations is provided as a reference, also evaluated along the flight tracks.

Finally, the majority of the campaign repeated the cold atom gravimetry campaign, which was conducted in 2017 over the same location using the same instrument. This allows for a direct comparison of the gravity observations collected during the two campaigns.

Download the Airborne Quantum Gravimetry Final Report

Digital Object Identifier: European Space Agency, 2024, AirQuantumGrav_2023, Version V0 https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-58c58c5