Poisson Downward Continuation Solution by the Jacobi Method

Downward continuation is a continuing problem in geodesy and geophysics. Inversion of the discrete form of the Poisson integration process provides a numerical solution to the problem, but because the B matrix that defines the discrete Poisson integration is not always well conditioned the solution may be noisy in situations where the discretization step is small and in areas containing large heights. We provide two remedies, both in the context of the Jacobi iterative solution to the Poisson downward continuation problem. First, we suggest testing according to the upward continued result from each solution, rather then testing between successive solutions on the geoid, so that choice of a tolerance for the convergence of the iterative method is more meaningful and intuitive. Second, we show how a tolerance that reflects the conditioning of the B matrix can regularize the solution, and suggest an approximate way of choosing such a tolerance. Using these methods, we are able to calculate a solution that appears regular in an area of Papua New Guinea having heights over 3200 m, over a grid with 1 arc-minute spacing, based on a very poorly conditioned B matrix.