Research reveals a new method to determine spin orientation in LAGEOS satellites, suggesting improved accuracy in geophysics and relativity measurements.
The two LAGEOS Satellites have addressed a variety of issues in Geophysics (GP) and General Relativity (GR). The extreme accuracy of laser ranging (currently approaching millimeter accuracy) now means that very small error sources act upon LAGEOS and have become important, affecting the study of GP (e.g., the tides) and GR (e.g., Lense-Thirring Effect). Initial measurements and analysis of the spin orientation were first performed at the in the early 1990s at the University of Maryland. However, the spin rate of LAGEOS has slowed to the point that this method is no longer effective. A new observing approach (the "Pocket Modulation Effect") to determine the spin axis has been proposed by the first author. Data that addresses this method has been collected at various sites and is being analyzed at INFN-LNF. We will report on the physics involved in the PME and describe the laboratory data and simulations performed to validate the proposed approach, the LAGEOS data obtained at sites, the new analysis procedures and then address the impact of this new information.
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Douglas et al. (2008) studied this question.
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