NASA releases 3D geoide model of Earth's irregular shape
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio published a three‑dimensional model of the Earth’s geoide on 15 July 2026. The model, called GOCO06s, combines more than one billion satellite observations gathered over 15 years by 19 spacecraft, including the GRACE and GRACE‑FO twin satellites, the GRACE‑FO mission, and ESA’s GOCE satellite.
The geoide visualises the theoretical shape the global ocean would take if it were at rest and acted only under gravity and Earth’s rotation, ignoring tides, winds and currents. Variations in the planet’s internal mass cause gravity to differ by up to +85 m above the reference level near Iceland and –106 m below it near southern India. To make these subtle differences visible, the image amplifies the vertical scale by about 10 000 times, giving the planet a “potato‑like” appearance that went viral on social media.
Scientists stress that the illustration is not a photograph of the Earth’s physical surface; the planet remains an oblate spheroid. The geoide map is a research tool for sea‑level studies, ocean‑current monitoring, glacier‑melt tracking and mass‑distribution analyses, helping improve geodesy, oceanography and climate research.
Entities: Earth · Earth's geoide · GOCE · GOCE mission · GRACE · Geoid · Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission · Michael Watkins · NASA · National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The NASA geoid image went viral on social media, prompting speculation that it showed the Earth's true shape.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The geoid model was built from satellite observations collected over 15 years, including data from the GRACE and GOCE missions. (NASA)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The geoid model aids fields such as geodesy, oceanography, cartography and satellite navigation.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The image exaggerates surface irregularities by up to 10,000 times to make gravity differences visible.
- [● 3 SOURCES] NASA released a three‑dimensional visualization of the Earth's geoid. (NASA)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The geoid represents a hypothetical sea‑level surface shaped only by gravity and Earth's rotation, not the actual terrain.