NASA releases a new visualization of the geoid, a gravity-based model that shows the “apparent” shape of Earth if the global ocean surface were influenced only by gravity and Earth’s rotation. The visual presents the planet as a lumpy “potato-like” shape to make small variations in gravitational pull easier to see.
The outlets describe the geoid as arising from differences in Earth’s mass distribution, which creates regional variations in gravity. In the model, these differences appear as rises and dips across the surface—for example, one area near Iceland rises, while a dip is shown south of India. Times of India adds that the visualization exaggerates gravitational differences by a factor of 10,000 for clarity. It also states the underlying data comes from satellite measurements collected over roughly 15 years. Together, the sources frame the geoid as a scientific depiction based on long-term satellite observations, using scaling to highlight subtle gravity variations that are not obvious in the planet’s actual surface shape.
