The Earth's gravity field as deduced from the doppler tracking of five satellites

Using orbital determinations and data residuals from the Doppler tracking of five satellites, we deduce values for the zonal harmonics of the earth's gravity field of odd degree through the ninth, the nonzonal harmonics of all degrees from the second through the eighth, and the sectorial harmonics of thirteenth degree and order. Combining these with values given by King-Hele for the zonal harmonics of even degree, we compute a shape of the geoid and study the distribution of the magnitudes of the harmonics. We find that the harmonics of the geoid have no apparent relation with the harmonics of the topography. We also find that the harmonic coefficients of the geoid are consistent with random density variations, having negligible spatial correlation beyond about 0.01Re, that begin near the top of the mantle and continue to an undetermined depth.