Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agusm.u42b..03m&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2002, abstract #U42B-03
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1239 Rotational Variations
Scientific paper
Scientific agencies in the Washing ton DC area have been involved in studies related to the rotation of the Earth for over a century. The story begins with attempts by astronomers at the U.S. Naval Observatory to identify the motion of the Earth's rotational pole in their observations and Simon Newcomb's subsequent explanation in 1891 of the period of the Chandler motion by the Earth's elasticity. The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey established an observing site in Gaithersburg, Maryland, now a Washington suburb, that contributed observations from 1899 until 1984. The U. S. Naval Observatory established an observational program in 1915 using the photographic zenith tube originally installed at Gaithersburg to monitor polar motion. This instrument was modified in 1934 to provide astronomical time measurements. Work on the description of the Earth's magnetic field published by the Carnegie Institute was used in the 1950's to relate decadal variations in the Earth's rotation speed with motion of the Earth's core. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the 1980's pioneered in the application of space techniques including Very Long Baseline Interferometry, Satellite Laser Ranging and Lunar Laser Ranging. The U. S. Naval Observatory joined them in the formation of the National Earth Orientation Service soon after, and these three agencies continue to make important contributions to the knowledge of the Earth's rotation. All of these efforts have led to significant contributions to our understanding of plate motions, the internal structure of the Earth and the relationship between the atmosphere and the solid Earth.
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