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Directory Title: U.S. Geoid Heights, Scientific Model (G96SSS)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Dennis G. Milbert

Contributing Organization: NOAA, National Geodetic Survey, N/NGS5
1315 East-West Highway, Room 9349
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282

Summary: This 2' geoid height grid for the conterminous United States is the G96SSS model. The computation used about 1.8 million terrestrial and marine gravity data held in the National Geodetic Survey gravity data base in July 1996. These data were augmented by gravity data contributions from NIMA (former Defense Mapping Agency). By means of a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique, high frequency corrections were made to an underlying EGM96 geopotential model through a remove, compute, and restore process. The gravity values are based on the International Gravity Standardization Net 1971 (IGSN71). The geoid heights are referred to the Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS80) ellipsoid. Unlike GEOID96, the G96SSS grid does not incorporate GPS on leveled benchmarks. The G96SSS model is a gravimetric geoid in a geocentric, ITRF94(1996.0) reference frame. It is necessary to subtract 12.0 cm from the G96SSS values to obtain the geoid undulation between the best-fit global geopotential surface and the GRS80 ellipsoid (both expressed in a tide free system).

Additional information is available at: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GEOID/G96SSS/

We are particularly grateful to NIMA for their assistance and their data contributions.

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