Other
Scientific paper
Jun 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001georl..28.2245w&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 28, Issue 11, p. 2245-2248
Other
13
Geodesy And Gravity: Planetary Geodesy And Gravity, Geodesy And Gravity: Rotational Variations, Geodesy And Gravity: Satellite Orbits, Geodesy And Gravity: Tides-Earth
Scientific paper
Recent observations of Europa suggest that the Jovian satellite may have a liquid ocean underneath its icy surface. Geophysical models indicate that the tidal Love number k2 has a strong dependence on the presence or absence of an ocean. The k2 dependence on the ice shell thickness is also significant. Measurements of the static and tidal gravity fields through their dynamic effects on the trajectory of a low European orbiter can be essential in the detection of an ocean and inference of other internal structures. Covariance analyses have been carried out to assess accuracies using simulated Doppler tracking data. With 15 days of tracking from 2 Earth stations, the uncertainties for k2, mantle libration amplitude and the epoch radial position of the spacecraft are expected to be 0.0004, 2.8 arcsec and 5.7 m, respectively. These tight constraints will strongly contribute to ocean detection and ice thickness determination when combined with altimeter measurements.
Bar-Sever Yoaz E.
Folkner William M.
Williams James G.
Wu Xiaoping
Zumberge James F.
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