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On the eve of the 100th anniversary of IAU Commission 19/A2 “Rotation of the Earth”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2019

Zinovy Malkin ,
Richard Gross ,
Dennis McCarthy ,
Aleksander Brzeziński ,
Nicole Capitaine ,
Véronique Dehant ,
Chengli Huang ,
Harald Schuh ,
Jan Vondrák  and
Yaroslav Yatskiv
Zinovy Malkin
Affiliation:
Pulkovo Observatory RAS, Kazan Federal University, Russia, email: [email protected]
Richard Gross
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA, email: [email protected]
Dennis McCarthy
Affiliation:
U.S. Naval Observatory, contractor, USA, email: [email protected]
Aleksander Brzeziński
Affiliation:
Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, email: [email protected]
Nicole Capitaine
Affiliation:
SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, France, email: [email protected]
Véronique Dehant
Affiliation:
Royal Observatory Belgium, Belgium, email: [email protected]
Chengli Huang
Affiliation:
Shanghai Astronomical Observatory CAS, China, email: [email protected]
Harald Schuh
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Center Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, email: [email protected]
Jan Vondrák
Affiliation:
Astronomical Institute CAS, Czech Republic, email: [email protected]
Yaroslav Yatskiv
Affiliation:
Main Astronomical Observatory NASU, Ukraine, email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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IAU Commission 19 began in 1919 with the birth of the IAU at the Brussels Conference, where Standing Committee 19 on Latitude Variations was established as one of 32 standing committees. At the first IAU General Assembly in 1922, Standing Committee 19 became Commission 19 “Variation of Latitude”. In the beginning, the main topic of the Commission was the investigation of polar motion. Later, its activities included observations and theory of Earth rotation and connections between Earth orientation variations and geophysical phenomena. As a result, in 1964 at the XII IAU General Assembly, the Commission was renamed “Rotation of the Earth”. The investigation of Earth orientation variations is primarily based on observations of natural and artificial celestial objects. Therefore, maintenance of the international terrestrial and celestial reference frames, as well as the coordinate transformation between the frames and the improvement of the model of precession/nutation, have always been among the primary Commission topics. In 1987, the IAU through Commissions 19 and 31 “Time” established, jointly with the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, what is now known as the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Commission 19 continued to work to develop methods to improve the accuracy and understanding of Earth orientation variations and related reference systems and frames as well as theoretical studies of Earth rotation. In 2015, Commission 19 was renewed as Commission A2 “Rotation of the Earth” continuing Commission 19’s functions and linking the astronomical community to other scientific organizations such as the International Association of Geodesy, International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, International GNSS Service, International Laser Ranging Service and International DORIS Service. During its entire history, IAU Commission 19/A2 has always worked in close cooperation with these and other related services to improve the accuracy and consistency of the Earth orientation parameters and celestial and terrestrial reference frames.

Keywords

Earthastrometryreference systems and framestime, history and philosophy of astronomygeodesygeophysics
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 13 , Symposium S349: Under One Sky: The IAU Centenary Symposium , December 2018 , pp. 325 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2019 

References

IAU Resolutions, www.iau.org/administration/resolutions/general_assembliesGoogle Scholar
IAU Reports 1922–2015, Transactions of the IAU, vv. I–XXIXGoogle Scholar
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Wilkins, G. 2000, Project MERIT and the Formation of the International Earth Rotation Service, in: Proc. IAUC 178 “Polar Motion: Historical and Scientific Problems”, eds. Dick, S., McCarthy, D., Luzum, B., 187Google Scholar