Gravity Satellite views "Potato Earth"

Hi ATSers,

the gravity satellite GOCE managed to draw a nice map of gravity distribution over the planet, showing how Earth is "potato shaped" in terms of gravity. Interesting at least!

BBC Science and Technology

According to this slightly bizarre way of viewing things, a boat off the coast of Europe (bright yellow) can sit 180m "higher" than a boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean (deep blue) and still be on the same level plain. But this is the trick gravity plays on Earth because the space rock on which we live is not a perfect sphere and its mass is not evenly distributed. The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) was launched in March 2009. It flies pole to pole at an altitude of just 254.9km - the lowest orbit of any research satellite in operation today.

Have a look!

Hundroid

reply to post by Hundroid


Heresy and witchcraft!
The world is not potato shaped it is flat!
Really though neat look at a "nude' earth, i think i will remember her with her clothes on.
Good find

reply to post by g146541


Thanks! BTW, I am a caffeine expert too....

That is definitely an odd way of looking at it, but interesting nonetheless.

The effect that gravity has on Earth, is similar to the effect that gravity has on humans.
After time, certain areas begin to sag and appear lumpy.

Well i have a dumb question
Where the gravity is bigger ...do i weigh more?

reply to post by sunspot0

Where the gravity is bigger ...do i weigh more?

I was not really the best in Physics during the High School years, but I think the answer is YES! Of course we are talking about very small weight variations, probably not detectable with normal scales.

Originally posted by Hundroid
reply to post by sunspot0

 

Where the gravity is bigger ...do i weigh more?

I was not really the best in Physics during the High School years, but I think the answer is YES! Of course we are talking about very small weight variations, probably not detectable with normal scales.

Hah! New diet! Eat as much as you want and relocate to a lower gravity spot on Earth!
2nd line

The geoid is the surface of an ideal global ocean in the absence of tides and currents, shaped only by gravity.

As the above states, it is simply giving an elevation magnitude to the gravitational potential of the earth, which is why two points that may have a different elevation, one lower one higher, may be represented in the reverse
order due to the stronger gravitational potential at the lower point. This goes to show the non-uniformity within the gravitational field.

Strange to think that walking on a flat plat (curved actually, but perceived to be flat) could be, by definition, walking uphill.

looks like a big wod of chewed up bubble gum....as mother earth is a woman i think this is one of those times that i would ask a woman to keep her clothes on...looks like some bad cellulite near australia

I notice that ocean bodies have less gravity then the continents which is to be expected but how come the atlantic has a huge amount of gravity? Could it be the atlantic being a younger ocean then the pacific?

Okay I don't understand? When we see pictures taking from the moon or space or Astronauts or whatever, the Earth is round. So is the oceans making it look more flat? Or is this not the actual shape of the planet? Can someone please enlighten me?

Originally posted by henriquefd

Originally posted by Hundroid
reply to post by sunspot0

 

Where the gravity is bigger ...do i weigh more?

I was not really the best in Physics during the High School years, but I think the answer is YES! Of course we are talking about very small weight variations, probably not detectable with normal scales.

Hah! New diet! Eat as much as you want and relocate to a lower gravity spot on Earth!
2nd line

hahahahaha...

A good place to buy Gold in a low gravity area and sell it off in a high gravity area


Americans are not obese they just happen to be in a higher gravity spot on Earth

reply to post by Slipdig1

Gravity is lower because there is less land mass in the oceans.
More mass means more gravity and because water has a lower mass than the solid materials the continents are made of the oceans look smaller in the image. it shows the gravity field around the earth not the actual physical shape.

Aha! Now I know why I weigh so much! I live a yellow area!
Think I'll move to E/SE Africa.....

Gravity sure does make the planet look ugly though. Bit like humans I guess! Facinating stuff!

It doesn't appear to have much to do with crust land mass versus water mass to me, particularly since the gravitational differences overlap land and water. I'm willing to bet that our core, being the most dense part of our planet, likely resembles this shape or density form, though I also like to keep open a more EMF-like variance within our core that may not correlate to density or shape fluctuations but instead a flow, energy, or resonance variation.

I also think gravity is a push rather than a pull, created by the mass or energy form pushing the "space fabric" away from it, which in turn pushes back.

Yeah... Too make more comparisons, they're both filled with useless eyes.

Anyone else notice the gravity "hole" at the Southern tip of India? Weakest gravity on the planet, it would seem.

That is so cool! I can see the outlines of the continents & the ocean drop off. S+F

Seen this on tv history or discovery, there was a report on the earth and how it was a geoid, and how the real surface looked under the oceans and such.

Was quite a good show, but do not recall the name of it. Goes to prove, more people learn ignorance in school than an education.