Marine gravity measurements are critically affected by ocean tides
effect. However, the model of ocean tidal loading (OTL) is not accurate
enough for offshore high-precision gravity measurement at present. In
this paper, we carry out the investigation of gravity variations for the
measured location that is far from the shore. Currently, the OTL model
calculates the effect of tidal waves globally. However, the influence of
local mass changes on gravity measurement should be taken into account,
especially when the observed location is far from the shore. For further
verification, the gravity measurement experiments are carried out based
on a homemade atomic gravimeter at a location, which is 230 m far away
from the shore and surrounded by seawater. Even in the harsh measurement
environment of the quay, the continuous monitoring of gravity variation
has been done for about three days, and the measurement sensitivity of
our atomic gravimeter is estimated to be 0.76
mGal$/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for an
interrogation time of 110 ms. Moreover, the gravity changes of
approximately 170 $\upmu$Gal have been observed with
the variation of regional seawater mass, which agree well with the
calculated results based on the new modified model of OTL. The results
of this paper may be helpful for the high-precision calibration of
marine gravimeters.
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