NASA Maps Earth’s 191-Meter Geoid, Making Planet Look Like a Potato
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Aug 17
NASA Maps Earth’s 191-Meter Geoid, Making Planet Look Like a Potato
2 articles · Updated · Euronews · Aug 17
Summary
NASA released a new geoid visualization that magnifies Earth’s gravity-shaped bulges and dips by 10,000 times, turning the planet into an uneven “potato” rather than a smooth sphere.
The model shows how uneven mass distribution—from mountains and ocean trenches to denser material inside Earth—changes gravity and creates higher and lower theoretical sea levels.
Its highest point sits 85 meters above the reference level near Iceland, while the lowest lies 106 meters below it south of India, for a total range of 191 meters.
More than 1 billion observations from 19 satellites over 15 years underpin the map, which NASA says helps scientists track shifting water and ice and supports surveying, mapping and navigation.
If gravity defines a hidden global sea level beneath continents, what does NASA’s geoid reveal about ice loss, groundwater shifts, and Earth’s interior?
Why does NASA’s new 'potato Earth' image matter if the real geoid differs by only 191 metres worldwide?
How do 19 satellites and a billion measurements turn Earth’s invisible gravity field into a tool for GPS, flood planning, and sea-level science?