Gravity-based density models and their applications

Gravity measurements contain important information about the subsurface at every spatial scale. Satellite missions provide highly accurate, global measurements, that allow building and testing 3D models of the Earth even for regions where other geophysical measurements are sparse. Depending on the envisaged model resolution and application, gravity data from regional or local surveys (e.g. ship and airborne) can be incorporated to provide higher resolution. However, solutions to the gravity inverse problem are non-unique and constraints by independent geological and geophysical observations need to be integrated to develop reliable subsurface density models. Such models, in turn, provide insights into subsurface variations in composition and thermo-mechanical state. In this session, we welcome contributions that integrate gravity and/or gradient data (at all scales) with other geophysical measurements and geological information to better understand the structure, properties and processes of the Earth’s subsurface. Hence, we would like to discuss diverse applications, from global scale, where mantle properties are assessed, down to the reservoir scale. We also welcome more technical contributions that address related topics like innovative joint inversion methods, model uncertainty estimation and determinations of parameter sensitivities, as well as temporal variations of the gravity field, and new interpretation software and techniques.