Modelling gravity field of irregularly shaped bodies by numerical methods

Gravity field modelling of irregularly shaped bodies such as the Earth's Moon is a challenging task that can reveal both the strong and weak points of each modelling technique. In our approach we will develop a numerical approach based on the finite element method (FEM) and compare the obtained solutions with the solution by the spectral approach that relies on spherical harmonics. In this way, we aim to study whether the numerical methods such as FEM can overcome the limitations of the spherical-harmonic-based approaches, namely their divergence in the vicinity of the gravitating body. We hope that the presented developed approach could form a valuable alternative to the spherical harmonics.