Homogenized marine gravity maps of southern and eastern Baltic Sea for modern 3D applications in marine geodesy, geology and navigation
BalMarGrav
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BalMarGrav

PROGRAMME 2021-2027
priority
2 Water-smart societies
objective
2.2 Blue economy
Project type
Implementation
October 2022 - September 2024
Technical details

BalMarGrav

The project BalMarGrav harmonises data on the Earth’s gravity across the region to feed it into a new height reference system for safer navigation, offshore infrastructure and sea traffic management.
Project summary

The BalMarGrav project, co-financed under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2021-2027 program, aimed to improve the insufficient mapping of the marine gravity field in the southern and eastern Baltic Sea region. This task is very important due to the decision of the Baltic Sea Hydrographic Commission to implement a common height reference system (Baltic Sea Chart Datum 2000) for the Baltic Sea Region which is consistent to the European height system. This means that bathymetric measurements, nautical charts etc., which are needed for safe navigation, offshore infrastructure and sea traffic management, will be based on a so-called geoid model, just determined by measurements of the acceleration due to the gravity field of the Earth.

New marine gravity measurements to modern standards are very costly and time-consuming. The BalMarGrav project involved organisations from 8 countries of the Baltic Sea region (11 partner institutions, 6 associated organisations) to jointly rework gravity measurements made between the 1950s and 90s in the southern and eastern parts of the Baltic Sea. These campaigns were mainly carried out with the support of the Soviet Union's research infrastructure. During the period of independence from the Soviet Union and the political transition, much of this data was forgotten or underutilised.

The BalMarGrav project has built a transnational network of experts in the region to save and reprocess the fragmented historical gravity data and provide harmonized and validated open data product to the target groups: national sectoral agencies responsible for geodetic reference systems and national gravimetric databases, international governmental organisation (e.g. Baltic Sea Hydrographic Commission), nongovernmental organization (e.g. Nordic Geodetic Commission), as well as marine geophysical exploration companies and scientific community.

During the BalMarGrav project, 15 historical marine gravity datasets were secured from archives, reprocessed and validated by 16 modern marine gravity datasets. As a result, a single homogenized historical dataset for the southern and eastern Baltic Sea was developed and is available to the public from the Nordic Geodetic Commission gravity database. The download of the developed dataset was tested by 11 institutions, including 7 institutions that were not Project Partners or Associated Organisations. The dataset has been also incorporated into national databases. The good quality of the revitalized data, comparable to that of modern marine gravity measurements, was confirmed by comparisons with regional and global gravity models from different sources and techniques. In addition, 3 reports on historical (here), modern (here) and homogenized marine gravity datasets (here), as well as maps of the so-called free-air gravity anomaly and the Bouguer anomaly have been developed and posted for free download at the project web-page (here).

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Budgets

BalMarGrav
in numbers.
  • 0.50
    Million
    Total
  • 0.40
    Million
    Erdf
  • 0.00
    Million
    Norway
  • 52.233717221.071432235636493
  • 50.090297658.665425167728774
  • 54.370685818.61298210330077
  • 60.675013217.1467019
  • 53.430181814.5509623
  • 60.199131324.9370169
  • 52.208909621.013184497520786
  • 56.949397724.1051846
  • 59.394974124.66761888709302
  • 55.78313212.516722
  • 54.72239204999999625.335857868379442

Project partners

Lead partnerInstitute of Geodesy and Cartography
  • Town
    Warszawa
  • Region
  • Country
    Poland
  • Region
    Miasto Warszawa
Total partner budget
129,163.89
Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy
  • Town
    Frankfurt am Main
  • Region
  • Country
    Germany
  • Region
    Frankfurt am Main, Kreisfreie Stadt
Total partner budget
38,976.00
Gdańsk University of Technology
  • Town
    Gdańsk
  • Region
  • Country
    Poland
  • Region
    Trójmiejski
Total partner budget
34,443.70
Lantmäteriet
  • Town
    Gävle
  • Region
  • Country
    Sweden
  • Region
    Gävleborgs län
Total partner budget
31,807.12
Maritime University of Szczecin
  • Town
    Szczecin
  • Region
  • Country
    Poland
  • Region
    Miasto Szczecin
Total partner budget
72,220.67
National Land Survey of Finland
  • Town
    Helsinki
  • Region
  • Country
    Finland
  • Region
    Helsinki-Uusimaa
Total partner budget
29,232.00
Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute
  • Town
    Warszawa
  • Region
  • Country
    Poland
  • Region
    Miasto Warszawa
Total partner budget
23,888.37
Riga Technical University
  • Town
    Riga
  • Region
  • Country
    Latvia
  • Region
    Rīga
Total partner budget
33,600.00
Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech)
  • Town
    Tallinn
  • Region
  • Country
    Estonia
  • Region
    Põhja-Eesti
Total partner budget
34,916.00
Technical University of Denmark
  • Town
    Lyngby
  • Region
  • Country
    Denmark
  • Region
    Københavns omegn
Total partner budget
40,808.40
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
  • Town
    Vilnius
  • Region
  • Country
    Lithuania
  • Region
    Vilniaus apskritis
Total partner budget
30,800.00

Contacts

News

Events

No upcoming events
    09
    September
    Webinar on homogenized marine gravity maps of the southern and eastern Baltic Sea -  results and pilot activity
    Project: BalMarGrav
    Virtual Meeting
    09. September 2024
    10:00 - 11:00 (CEST)

      Quotes

      Pilots

      Outputs

      Downloads