We have measured Planck's constant and have obtained a value of 6.626 070 34(12) × 10 −34 J s. To our knowledge this measurement of h has the lowest uncertainty reported to date. This result has been obtained from measurements of four masses of different material and nominal values varying from 1 kg to 250 g. The experimental procedures and the measurement uncertainties are described in detail.

The 8th International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG2009) took place at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) from September to October 2009. It was the first ICAG organized as a key comparison in the framework of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM MRA) (CIPM 1999). ICAG2009 was composed of a Key Comparison (KC) as defined by the CIPM MRA, organized by the Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities (CCM) and designated as CCM.G-K1. Participating gravimeters and their operators came from national metrology institutes (NMIs) or their designated institutes (DIs) as defined by the CIPM MRA. A Pilot Study (PS) was run in parallel in order to include gravimeters and their operators from other institutes which, while not signatories of the CIPM MRA, nevertheless play important roles in international gravimetry measurements. The aim of the CIPM MRA is to have international acceptance of the measurement capabilities of the participating institutes in various fields of metrology. The results of CCM.G-K1 thus constitute an accurate and consistent gravity reference traceable to the SI (International System of Units), which can be used as the global basis for geodetic, geophysical and metrological observations of gravity. The measurements performed afterwards by the KC participants can be referred to the international metrological reference, i.e. they are SI-traceable. The ICAG2009 was complemented by a number of associated measurements: the Relative Gravity Campaign (RGC2009), high-precision levelling and an accurate gravity survey in support of the BIPM watt balance project. The major measurements took place at the BIPM between July and October 2009. Altogether 24 institutes with 22 absolute gravimeters (one of the 22 AGs was ultimately withdrawn) and nine relative gravimeters participated in the ICAG/RGC campaign. This paper is focused on the absolute gravity campaign. We review the history of the ICAGs and present the organization, data processing and the final results of the ICAG2009. After almost thirty years of hosting eight successive ICAGs, the CIPM decided to transfer the responsibility for piloting the future ICAGs to NMIs, although maintaining a supervisory role through its Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities.

Abstract. Repeated absolute gravity measurements have been made over a period of several years at six sites along a 3000 kmlong, mid-continental, North American profile from the coast of Hudson Bay southward to Iowa. With the exception of the southern-most site, the observed rates of change of gravity are significantly higher than rates predicted by current models, such as ICE-3G and a laterally homogeneous, standard Earth. The observed gravity change rates suggest significant modifications, such as a 2 to 3-fold increase in lower mantle viscosity or a 50% increase in Laurentide ice sheet thickness west of Lake Superior. Results

The Sixth International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters was held from 5 June to 28 August 2001 at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Sèvres. Seventeen absolute gravimeters were used to make measurements at five sites of the BIPM gravity network. The vertical gravity gradients at the sites and the ties between them were also measured using seventeen relative gravimeters. For the first time the ties were also measured using absolute gravimeters. Various methods of processing the absolute and relative data were tested to calculate the results. The final results of ICAG-2001 are presented. The acceleration due to gravity at a height of 0.90 m is given as (980 925 701.2 ± 5.5) µGal* and (980 928 018.8 ± 5.5) µGal for sites A and B, respectively,

We present a summary of the Planck constant determinations using the NRC watt balance, now referred to as the NRC Kibble balance. The summary includes a reanalysis of the four determinations performed in late 2013, as well as three new determinations performed in 2016. We also present a number of improvements and modifications to the experiment resulting in lower noise and an improved uncertainty analysis. As well, we present a systematic error that had been previously unrecognized and we have quantified its correction. The seven determinations, using three different nominal masses and two different materials, are reanalysed in a manner consistent with that used by the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants (TGFC) and includes a comprehensive assessment of correlations. The result is a Planck constant of 6.626 070 133(60) ×10 −34 Js and an inferred value of the Avogadro constant of 6.022 140 772(55) ×10 23 mol −1 . These fractional uncertainties of less than 10 −8 are the smallest published to date.

Unconsolidated sediments in alpine watersheds can store glacier melt and snowmelt as groundwater, which helps sustain flow in mountain rivers during dry periods. However, the amount and distribution of groundwater storage in rugged alpine terrain is not well understood, hindering our ability to predict the rate and timing of groundwater discharge into alpine streams. We show how non-invasive time-lapse microgravity surveys can be used to gauge the spatial distribution of groundwater storage changes within a large (ca 1500 Â 1000 m) moraine-talus field of the Lake O'Hara alpine watershed of the Canadian Rockies. Additional ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and seismic refraction surveys provide complementary information on subsurface bedrock topography and reveal the location of a major northwest-southeast trending depression that likely controls groundwater flow to an alpine lake contiguous with the moraine-talus field. Repeat relative gravity measurements made on a network of 80 gravity stations over and around the moraine-talus field during the summers of 2009 and 2010 reveal gravity changes of up to 25 mgal. Although the small gravity changes associated with groundwater flowing out of storage areas are noisy, significant changes are evident on the eastern side of the moraine-talus field.

The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Sèvres, France, hosted the 7th International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG) and the associated Relative Gravity Campaign (RGC) from August to September 2005.ICAG 2005 was prepared and performed as a metrological pilot study, which aimed:(1) To determine the gravity comparison reference values;(2) To determine the offsets of the absolute gravimeters; and (3) As a pilot study to accumulate experience for the CIPM Key Comparisons.This document presents a complete and extensive review of the technical protocol and data processing procedures. The 1st ICAG-RGC comparison was held at the BIPM in 1980-1981 and since then meetings have been organized every 4 years.In this paper, we present an overview of how the meeting was organized, the conditions of BIPM gravimetric sites, technical specifications, data processing strategy and an analysis of the final results. This 7th ICAG final report supersedes all previously published reports.Readings were obtained from participating instruments, 19 absolute gravimeters and 15 relative gravimeters. Precise levelling measurements were carried out and all measurements were performed on the BIPM micro-gravity network which was specifically designed for the comparison.

FG5 absolute gravimeters are the most accurate gravimeters available at present and have significant influence on the realization of a gravity reference through international comparisons of absolute gravimeters. The latter comparisons are the only way to maintain the traceability of absolute gravimetry to the International System of Units (SI). Sources of systematic error such as the self-attraction effect (SAE) have to be taken into account when determining accurate values of the acceleration due to gravity, as needed, for example, for the watt balance project or the International Gravity Reference System. In this paper the SAE for two types of FG5 gravimeter is estimated using two independent methods. The resulting SAEs are 1.2(0.2) µGal and 1.7(0.2) µGal for FG5 with fibre and bulk interferometer types, respectively. The importance of accurately defining the measurement height is emphasized in the context of the SAE. The accuracy and advantages of referring gravity measurements to an effective position of the free-fall solution are demonstrated together with a simple and accurate empirical estimation of this effective position.