[IGSMAIL-5903]: Earth Rotation Session at IAG Scientific Assembly

[Richard Gross]

******************************************************************************
IGS Electronic Mail      19 Feb 13:52:32 PST 2009      Message Number 5903
******************************************************************************

Author: Richard Gross
Subject: Earth Rotation Session at IAG Scientific Assembly


Dear Colleagues -

As part of the IAG Scientific Assembly that will be held in Buenos
Aires, Argentina during 31 August 2009 - 4 September 2009 there will
be a session on "Rotation of the Planet Earth. The description of
the session is given below.

On behalf of the conveners I would like to draw your attention to
this session and encourage you to participate in it. More information
about the IAG Scientific Assembly can be obtained from its web site
at <http://iag2009.com.ar/>.

Please note that the deadline for submitting abstracts is 6 March 2009.

Hope to see you in Buenos Aires!

Best regards,
Richard

..........................................................

SUB-SESSION 3.1: Rotation of the Planet Earth

Convenors:
Richard Gross (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA;
Richard.Gross at jpl.nasa.gov)
Rodrigo Abarca del Rio (Universidad de Concepcisn, Chile;
roabarca at udec.cl)

The Earth rotates about its axis once a day, but does not do so
uniformly. Instead, the rate of
rotation fluctuates by up to a millisecond per day, and the Earth
wobbles as it rotates. Much like
the wobble of an unbalanced automobile tire, the Earth wobbles
because the mass of the Earth is
not balanced about its rotation axis. Because the Earth is a dynamic
system with its mass in
constant motion, be it the mass of the atmosphere, oceans, crust,
mantle, or core, the rotation of
the Earth is constantly changing. And these changes occur over a wide
range of time scales,
from subdaily to decadal and longer. Measurements of the Earth's
changing rotation can
therefore be used to gain greater understanding of mass transport
within the entire Earth system,
from tracking water in its various phases as it cycles through the
atmosphere, oceans, and land,
to crustal deformation associated with tectonic motions and glacial
isostatic adjustment, to
torsional oscillations of the core. This session will be a forum for
discussing Earth rotation
measurements including improvements that have been made to them over
the last few decades,
prospects for making future improvements in light of new space
missions and techniques, and
their use in observing and interpreting mass transport in the Earth
system.