Gravitational redshift at INRIM

Abstract The gravitational redshift is one of the main biases in the comparison of primary frequency standards; even if it is not a limit for the present accuracy of the microwave frequency standards such as Cs beam or fountain clocks, it could be a challenge for the forthcoming generation of atomic optical clocks. In this article we report the evaluation of the gravitational redshift with respect to the Geoid reference at Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM) laboratories, with an accuracy of 1 × 10−17 in terms of relative frequency. The evaluation is based on GPS/levelling measurements and on the use of both a local and a global model for the Earth Geoid; the main limitation to the accuracy is given by the Geoid reference potential itself.