none 10.1190/1.1487298 Society of Exploration Geophysicists Society of Exploration Geophysicists 186 4730929 5980 2025120812561456500 10.1190 2025-12-08T17:56:21Z 2002-10-11T15:28:10Z 44 The Leading Edge 1070-485X 08 2001 08 01 2001 20 8 J. Derek Fairhead GETECH 1 , University of Leeds, U.K. Christopher M. Green GETECH 1 , University of Leeds, U.K. Mark E. Odegard GETECH 2 , Stafford, Texas, U.S. Converting sea-surface height variations, derived from satellite altimetry, to free air gravity is not new. In the early 1980s William Haxby (Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory) produced the first global marine gravity map from SeaSat satellite altimeter data using interorbital track spacing of about 180 km. Haxby's map had a significant impact on plate tectonic theory because marine free-air gravity data were able for the first time to uniformly image the tectonic fabric of the earth's oceanic crust. Since that time, much effort has been applied to improving satellite-derived gravity resolution. A major advance occurred in 1995, when the altimeter data from Geodetic Missions (GM) of GeoSat and ERS-1 satellites were released. Table 1 gives details of these satellites. 08 2001 08 01 2001 873 876 10.1190/1.1487298 https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/article/20/8/873/59301/Satellite-derived-gravity-having-an-impact-on https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/seg/tle/article-pdf/20/8/873/7390434/1.1487298.pdf https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/seg/tle/article-pdf/20/8/873/7390434/1.1487298.pdf https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/tle/article/20/8/873/59301/satellite-derived-gravity-having-an-impact-on http://tle.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/doi/10.1190/1.1487298