GOCE Quick-Look Gravity Field Analysis: Treatment of Gravity Gradients Defined in the Gradiometer Reference Frame

The purpose of the Quick-Look Gravity Field Analysis (QL-GFA) is to analyse partial and/or incomplete data sets of satellite gravity gradiometry (SGG) and high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking (hl-SST) data, in order to derive a fast diagnosis of the GOCE system performance, by detecting potential distortions of statistical significance (e.g. systematic errors) in the input data, and to give a fast feedback to the GOCE mission control (Payload Data Segment, PDS). The main objective of the present paper is to investigate the impact of the new mission design, i.e. the gravity gradients defined in the Gradiometer Reference Frame (GRF), onto the performance of the QL-GFA software, with special attention given to the proposed functionality such as the handling of data gaps and partial data sets and the estimation of the spectral gradiometer behaviour.