Overview
- NASA published an interactive 3D visualization of the geoide on July 15, and the graphic went viral on July 27–28 after social posts highlighted its 'bumpy' appearance.
- The image shows an equipotential surface defined by gravity, not the planet's visible shape, and NASA and specialists emphasized the view is a scientific model rather than a photograph.
- The visualization is based on the GOCO06s gravity model, which used about 15 years of satellite gravimetry and roughly 1 billion observations from 19 satellites including GRACE and GOCE.
- Vertical differences in the model are very small in absolute terms but were deliberately exaggerated by about 10,000 times for clarity; examples in the data include roughly +85 meters in Iceland and −106 meters in parts of southern India.
- Scientists use the geoide and GOCO06s as practical references for altitude datums, high-precision mapping, satellite navigation calibration and tracking sea-level, ice and groundwater changes.