Comparison of three digital fringe signal processing methods in a ballistic free-fall absolute gravimeter

This paper reports results of comparison of three digital fringe signal processing methods implemented in the same free-fall absolute gravimeter. A two-sample zero-crossing method, a windowed second-difference method and a method of non-linear least-squares adjustment on the undersampled fringe signal are compared in numerical simulations, hardware tests and actual measurements with the MPG-2 absolute gravimeter, developed at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany. The two-sample zero-crossing method realizes data location schemes that are both equally spaced in distance and equally spaced in time (EST) along the free-fall trajectory. The windowed second-difference method and the method of non-linear least-squares adjustment with complex heterodyne demodulation operate with the EST data. Results of the comparison verify an agreement of the three methods within one part in 10 9 of the measured gravity value, provided a common data location scheme is considered.