Gravity, Mean Sea Surface, and Bathymetry Models Comparison in the Canary Islands

Abstract

In geodetic and oceanographic studies generally, some reference surfaces are needed. These surfaces must represent as much as possible the gravity field of the Earth and the height/bathymetry systems. In the last years, several gravimetric, bathymetric, and mean sea surface models have appeared. Analyzing them it is possible to see that there are significant discrepancies between the models provided by different authors or organizations; there are also differences between the models and data obtained by independent measurements. We present the analysis of such differences and determine the most representative choice of models, in our opinion, for the Canary Islands region.

Keywords:

• Mean Sea Surface
• Bathymetry
• Gravimetry
• Geoid
• Altimetry