Comparison of two approaches for considering laterally varying density in topographic effect on satellite gravity gradiometric data

The satellite gravity gradiometric data are influenced by laterally varying density in topographic masses, while in most of studies a constant density for the masses was considered. This assumption causes an error in estimating the topographic effect. This paper theoretically and numerically investigates the methods of Sjöberg as well as Novák and Grafarend to consider the laterally varying density for topographic masses in formulation of topographic potential in spherical harmonics.