A 10 km-resolution Synthetic Venus Gravity Field

A 10 km-resolution synthetic Venus gravity field model based on topography

Authors:

Li et al

Abstract:

A high resolution gravity field model is extremely important in the exploration of Venus. In this paper, we present a 3-dimensional Venus gravity field VGM2014 constructed by using the latest gravity and topography models, residual terrain model (RTM) and the Airy–Heiskanen isostatic compensation model. The VGM2014 is the first 10 km scale Venus gravity field model; the final results are representations of the 3-dimensional surface gravity accelerations and gravity disturbances for Venus. We found that the optimal global compensation depth of Venus is about 60 km, and the crustal density is potentially less than the commonly accepted value of 2700–2900 kg m−3. This model will be potentially beneficial for the precise orbit determination and landing navigation of spacecraft around Venus, and may be utilized as a priori model for Venus gravity field simulation and inversion studies. The VGM2014 does not incorporate direct gravity information beyond degree 70 and it is not recommended for small-scale geophysical interpretation.