Accuracy of Geoid Heights from Modified Stokes Kernels

The dependence of the r.m.s. geoid height error on the degree of the first term in the zonal harmonics expansion of the kernel in Stokes's integration formula is examined. It is shown that kernels with the lower degree terms removed have some advantage over the conventional kernel when a significant error in the zeroth term of the gravity anomaly expansion is present. Numerical estimates of r.m.s. geoid height error vs integration cap size are obtained for several kernels.