"The Superconducting Gravimeter as a Geophysical Tool"
In the last 20 years, two instruments have dominated the
measurement of
gravity: the superconducting gravimeter (SG) - a relative
instrument - and
the absolute gravimeter. This talk will focus primarily
on the SG, briefly
tracing its history and technical development. The main
part of the
presentation will be on the type of measurements that
can be made and
what they tell us about the Earth. Topics are tides,
atmospheric,
hydrological and environmental effects, tectonics and
variations of gravity
associated with Earth rotation and the structure and
dynamics of the
Earth's core. If time permits I will also talk about
the provision of
gravity ground truth for satellite gravity missions.