Operating the Absolute Quantum Gravimeter outside of the laboratory
Résumé
The Absolute Quantum Gravimeter (AQG) is the world's first industrialgravimeter measuring g with laser-cooled atoms [1]. Today, several unitshave already been delivered to end-users.After reviewing the keyprinciples of the AQG, we will discuss the demonstrated measurementperformances of the AQG in terms of sensitivity, stability andrepeatability. In particular, we report on a reproducible sensitivity togravity at a level of 1 ?Gal in various types of environment (1 µGal =1e-8 m/s2 ~ 1e-9 g). We will also present our on-going efforts towardsthe thorough understanding of the uncertainty budget (accuracy) of thesensor. Finally, we will share the experience that we have acquired overthe past years regarding the operability of the AQG, with a specificfocus on the field version of the sensor.This new type of gravimeter ispresently the only technology that allows for continuous drift-freemonitoring of gravity over timescales from a few minutes to severalmonths, which opens new perspectives for the investigation of bothspatial and temporal gravity variations [2]. The AQG has been developedby Muquans in collaboration with academic laboratories LP2N and LNE-SYRTE, and RESIF (the French Seismologic and Geodetic Network, [3]).[1]V. Ménoret et al., "Gravity measurements below 10-9 g with atransportable absolute quantum gravimeter", Nature Scientific Reports,vol. 8, 12300 (2018)[2] M. Van Camp, O. de Viron, A. Watlet, B. Meurers,O. Francis, C. Caudron, "Geophysics from terrestrial time-variablegravity measurements", Rev. Geophys. (2017).[3] http://www.resif.fr/