Publication detail

The geopotential value W0 for specifying the relativistic atomic time scale and a global vertical reference system

BURŠA, M., KENYON, S., KOUBA, J., ŠÍMA, Z., VATRT, V., VÍTEK, V. and VOJTÍŠKOVÁ, M.

Original Title

The geopotential value W0 for specifying the relativistic atomic time scale and a global vertical reference system

Type

journal article - other

Language

English

Original Abstract

The TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) satellite alti- meter mission marked a new era in determining the geopotential constant W 0. On the basis of T/P data during 1993-2003 (cycles 11-414), long-term variations in W 0 have been investigated. The rounded value W 0 = 62636856.0 +- 0.5) m 2 s -2 has already been adopted by the International Astronomical Union for the definition of the constant L G = W 0/c 2 = 6.969290134 x 10-10 (where c is the speed of light), which is required for the realization of the relativistic atomic time scale. The constant L G , based on the above value of W 0, is also included in the 2003 International Earth Rotation and Reference Frames Service conventions. It has also been suggested that W 0 is used to specify a global vertical reference system (GVRS). W 0 ensures the consistency with the International Terrestrial Reference System, i.e. after adopting W 0, along with the geocentric gravitational constant (GM), the Earth's rotational velocity (?) and the second zonal geopotential coefficient (J 2) as primary constants (parameters), then the ellipsoidal parameters (a,?) can be computed and adopted as derived parameters. The scale of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000 (ITRF2000) has also been specified with the use of W 0 to be consistent with the geocentric coordinate time. As an example of using W 0 for a GVRS realization, the geopotential difference between the adopted W 0 and the geopotential at the Rimouski tide-gauge point, specifying the North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD88), has been estimated.

Keywords

Geopotential - Vertical datum unification - Relativistic atomic time scale

Authors

BURŠA, M., KENYON, S., KOUBA, J., ŠÍMA, Z., VATRT, V., VÍTEK, V. and VOJTÍŠKOVÁ, M.

RIV year

2007

Released

29. 9. 2006

ISBN

0949-7714

Periodical

JOURNAL OF GEODESY

Year of study

81

Number

2

State

Federal Republic of Germany

Pages from

103

Pages to

110

Pages count

8

BibTex

@article{BUT44869,
  author="Marie {Vojtíšková}",
  title="The geopotential value W0 for specifying the relativistic atomic time scale and a global vertical reference system",
  journal="JOURNAL OF GEODESY",
  year="2006",
  volume="81",
  number="2",
  pages="103--110",
  issn="0949-7714"
}