Tomis SOler Nafional Geodetic Survey, Charting and Geodetic Services,

Summary. This paper introduces a new matrix computationai approach to the local determination of gravity gradients, convenient for comparing with gradient signals from moving base gradiometer systems or calculating topographic effects at instrument heights. The method represents a practical alternative to the more conventional spherical harmonics formulation, primarily global in nature, and it may be considered as an extension to other previously used local representations, such as point masses. Important characteristics of the analytical development outlined herein are its conceptual simplicity and the possibility of obtaining at once, up to a certain order n, and in an arbitrary Cartesian coordinate system, the symmetric point gradient tensor of second rank.