Compact cold atom gravimeter for field applications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a compact cold atom gravimeter designed for field use, achieving high sensitivity and accuracy comparable to laboratory instruments, and demonstrating its potential for mobile and airborne gravity measurements.

Contribution

The development of a portable cold atom gravimeter capable of precise gravity measurements in non-laboratory environments is a novel advancement.

Findings

Achieved sensitivity of 42 microGal/Hz^0.5 and accuracy of 25 microGal.

Successfully measured Earth's gravity gradient with 4 E precision.

Demonstrated gravity measurements in a moving elevator, indicating potential for aircraft and boat applications.

Abstract

We present a cold atom gravimeter dedicated to field applications. Despite the compactness of our gravimeter, we obtain performances (sensitivity 42 microGal/Hz^0.5, accuracy 25 microGal) close to the bestgravimeters. We report gravity measurements in an elevator which led us to the determination of the Earth's gravity gradient with a precision of 4 E. These measurements in a non-laboratory environment demonstrate that our technology of gravimeter is enough compact, reliable and robust for field applications. Finally, we report gravity measurements in a moving elevator which open the way to absolute gravity measurements in an aircraft or a boat.