Earth Rotation and Global Dynamic Processes
Research unit funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 584) since march 2006.
The main objective of this coordinated project is to describe and explain the physical phenomena which contribute to variations of Earth rotation. Interactions and couplings of the various sub-systems are taken into account to a much higher extent than in previous studies.
The determination of Earth rotation is one of the main tasks of geodesy. The rotation of the Earth does not only relate the terrestrial and the quasi-inertial refererence systems to each other; moreover, its variations contain essential features of global dynamic processes. Correspondingly, Earth rotation research is multi-disciplinary with a close interrelation between modelling, observation, and analysis. The Earth is considered as a complex system of interacting dynamic components. The variations of Earth rotation are global and integral indicators of ongoing changes in the dynamics of the Earth, both for the redistribution of masses inside and outside the Earth and for mass motions like wind and oceans currents.
The research unit consist of scientists and institutions from geodesy, geophysics, meteorology and oceanography and is organized in ten thematic projects.
The research unit is coordinated by
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Müller, Institut für Erdmessung IfE, University of Hannover
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hansjörg Kutterer, Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy BKG, Frankfurt am Main
- Prof. Dr. phil. nat. Michael Soffel, Institut für Planetare Geodäsie IPG, TU Dresden