AbstractThe systematic error sources for airborne gravimetry are analyzed in detail using the basic mathematical model. The sources can be classified into three types: the first is the observation errors in the parking apron gravity values and the base reading of the airborne gravimeter, the second is the calibration errors of cross‐coupling correction, beam scale factor and the scale value, and the third is the modeling errors in the horizontal acceleration correction. The magnitudes of the various systematic errors are discussed and the related compensation methods are proposed. It is indicated that the modeling error of the horizontal acceleration correction (HAC) is one of the largest errors. Analysis of real data demonstrates that the systematic bias between airborne gravity and the ground (or sea) reference value in the Datong, Harbin and Bohai areas are all less than 1×10−5 m·s−2 after compensating the various systematic errors especially the modeling errors of horizontal acceleration correction.