The gravitational attraction of the body of a gravity meter upon its own proof mass is sometimes called the self-attraction. The self-attraction is a source of systematic error for absolute measurements of g, the acceleration of an object due to Earth's gravity. While the effect is typically small-of the order of one part per billion of the Earth's gravitational attraction-it is significant at the current level of accuracy of absolute gravity meters. In the past, a self-attraction correction for the FG5 gravity meter has been estimated by considering a rather coarse description of the instrument using simple geometrical shapes (spheres and cylinders). This paper describes a more complete calculation using a CAD-based digitized model of the newest FG5X instrument. We have also included the attraction of the co-moving drag-free chamber as well as the self-attraction of the counterweights used in the FG5X to reduce recoil. The results are also applicable to older style FG5 instruments with a fibre-optic interferometer base. The correction found with this new approach agrees with previous estimates but is now based upon a more complete and accurate model.

We describe a method for analyzing frequency-chirped sinusoidal signals using a complex heterodyne, sometimes also known as complex demodulation on the digitized waveform. This method allows one to use prior knowledge of the signal to reduce the effective bandwidth of the signal. The method can be used to extract a frequency-chirped signal even when it is sampled well below the Nyquist criterion. Accordingly, the method facilitates the use of less-expensive data acquisition and signal processing hardware than has traditionally been used for these applications. This technique is particularly useful for high-precision (parts in 10(9)) interferometer applications in which there exists a differential acceleration between the two arms (commonly found in absolute gravity meters or gradiometers).

The first North American Comparison of absolute gravimeters (NACAG-2010) was hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at its newly renovated Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory (TMGO) north of Boulder, Colorado, in October 2010. NACAG-2010 and the renovation of TMGO are part of NGS's GRAV-D project (Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum). Nine absolute gravimeters from three countries participated in the comparison. Before the comparison, the gravimeter operators agreed to a protocol describing the strategy to measure, calculate, and present the results. Nine sites were used to measure the free-fall acceleration of g. Each gravimeter measured the value of g at a subset of three of the sites, for a total set of 27 g-values for the comparison. The absolute gravimeters agree with one another with a standard deviation of 1.6 μGal (1 Gal ≡ 1 cm s −2 ). The minimum and maximum offsets are −2.8 and 2.7 μGal. This is an excellent agreement and can be attributed to multiple factors, including gravimeters that were in good working order, good operators, a quiet observatory, and a short duration time for the experiment. These results can be used to standardize gravity surveys internationally.