Gravity measurement from moving platform by second order Kalman Filter and position and velocity corrections

Gravity measurement is an effective tool for oil and gas exploring. It is particularly important for gravity observation from moving platforms, especially for remote areas and offshore fields by aircraft, boat, ship, submarine, satellite, vehicle, etc. The measurement is complicated by difficulty to discern gravity from platform accelerations, nonlinearity, drift and dynamic angular movement. Presented solution is second order Kalman Filter, a recursive estimator that is applied to highly nonlinear measurement problems. The filter optimally combines data of three-axis gyros, accelerometers and platform position and velocity signals to provide accurate attitude and gravity measurement. Extensive simulations verified accuracy and robustness of proposed method for measurement form different vehicles in various dynamic environments.