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Earth Rotation from the IRIS Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

D. S. Robertson ,
W. E. Carter  and
F. W. Fallon
D. S. Robertson
Affiliation:
National Geodetic Survey, Charting and Geodetic Services, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Rockville, Maryland 20852
W. E. Carter
Affiliation:
National Geodetic Survey, Charting and Geodetic Services, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Rockville, Maryland 20852
F. W. Fallon
Affiliation:
National Geodetic Survey, Charting and Geodetic Services, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Rockville, Maryland 20852

Abstract

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Project IRIS (International Radio Interferometric Surveying) was set up under the IAG and COSPAR to provide an operational system that would employ Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques to monitor variations in the rotation of the Earth. Currently the IRIS-A network, with stations at Westford, MA, Ft. Davis, TX, Richmond, FL, and Wettzell, FRG, conducts 24-hour observing sessions every five days to produce determinations of pole position, UT1, and nutation in addition to other parameters of geophysical and astrometric interest. The resulting Earth orientation parameters (EOP) have been shown to have an accuracy of 1 to 2 milliseconds of arc in pole position, and 0.05 to 0.1 milliseconds of time in UT1. In order to observe the relatively large higher frequency variations in UT1, daily 45-minute observing sessions are conducted using the single baseline between Westford and Wettzell. Intercomparison of the UT1 values from the daily and the 5-day series indicates that the accuracy of the daily values is better than 0.1 millisecond of time.

The longer term objectives of the IRIS project include improving the monitoring of Earth orientation by increasing the sampling rate and accuracy of the observations. In April, 1987, the IRIS-P network, with stations in Kashima, Japan, Fairbanks, AK, Ft, Davis, TX, and Richmond, FL began monthly 24-hour observing sessions, and a second series of daily UT1 observing sessions was begun using the stations in Richmond and Bologna, Italy. The additional networks will provide redundancy that will improve the reliability of the system and allow the accuracy of the EOP values to be estimated.

The IRIS UT1 time series provides, for the first time, sufficient accuracy and temporal resolution to look for the few percent increase in k/C caused by the anelastic response of the mantle. Initial results presented here suggest that improved methods of accounting for the dynamics of the oceans and atmosphere may be required before the intertwined variations in UT1 can be fully separated.

Type
Geophysics
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 129: The Impact of VLBI on Astrophysics and Geophysics , 1988 , pp. 391 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1988 

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