Sensor differences of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters

Sensor differences of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Sensor differences of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters Clara Beck, Thomas Forbriger, Nico Sneeuw This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6924748/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 18 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Pure and Applied Geophysics → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We analyse the difference signal of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters (SG) to identify systematic instrumental disturbances, which would otherwise go unnoticed.Compared to classical spring gravimeters SGs excel by their superior long-term stability. However, SG measurements also suffer from systematic errors.One possibility for characterising and quantifying these errors is the analysis of sensor differences, either of dual sphere instruments or between two colocated instruments. For perfect instruments, the sensor difference should vanish.We study the sensor differences of all dual sphere SGs in the database of the International Geodynamics and Earth Tide Service (IGETS). As expected they show a relative drift between the sensors and steps related to operator interventions. However, we can also identify periods of unexpected drift rate changes that last for several months. Afterwards, the drift rate returns to its old value. The observed differences are too big to be caused by local gravity gradients. Therefore, we think, they indicate more complex systematic disturbances of SGs. These disturbances are at the level of a few tens of \si{\nano \m \per \s^2} and could not be clearly identified in the gravity residuals of only one sensor.These findings are corroborated by the analysis of differences between colocated single sphere SGs at the J9 observatory in Strasbourg. Knowledge of the characteristics and size of these disturbances is important if gravity changes of a few tens of \si{\nano \m \per \s^2} are studied on long time scales, like signals from hydrology or polar motion. superconducting gravimeter sensor difference instrumental disturbances drift Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 18 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Pure and Applied Geophysics → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 28 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 31 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 19 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 18 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6924748","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":494155350,"identity":"0da7134a-ee6f-4c86-86fc-ab2bce65106e","order_by":0,"name":"Clara Beck","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"University Stuttgart","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Clara","middleName":"","lastName":"Beck","suffix":""},{"id":494155351,"identity":"54811ae4-dfa8-47c3-9821-d8b4167b3bba","order_by":1,"name":"Thomas Forbriger","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thomas","middleName":"","lastName":"Forbriger","suffix":""},{"id":494155352,"identity":"d6a6c984-1516-4957-9fae-6f7180bb0fc8","order_by":2,"name":"Nico Sneeuw","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University Stuttgart","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nico","middleName":"","lastName":"Sneeuw","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-18 16:08:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6924748/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6924748/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-025-03903-y","type":"published","date":"2026-03-18T15:57:30+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105223342,"identity":"b727d210-3af2-4fb6-a437-a52a52b36ca9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-23 16:04:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":905615,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SensordifferencesSGClaraBeck.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6924748/v1_covered_a1eba1ab-4655-4cf9-8db0-80f0ec1afcd3.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Sensor differences of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"pure-and-applied-geophysics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"paag","sideBox":"Learn more about [Pure and Applied Geophysics](https://www.springer.com/journal/24)","snPcode":"24","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/24/3","title":"Pure and Applied Geophysics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"superconducting gravimeter, sensor difference, instrumental disturbances, drift","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6924748/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6924748/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe analyse the difference signal of dual sphere superconducting gravimeters (SG) to identify systematic instrumental disturbances, which would otherwise go unnoticed.Compared to classical spring gravimeters SGs excel by their superior long-term stability. 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