NATIONAL REPORT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF ... - IAG Office

78 Commission 3 – Earth Rotation and Geodynamics
Earth” in 2006. This programme which is coordinated by
KH. ILK will run for six years – the first initial projects have
been funded for two years.
Mass transport shows up on various spatio-temporal scales
and includes any changes in the sub-systems of the Earth.
The ocean circulation, changes of ground water level and
solid Earth moisture, melting of continental ice sheets, river
run off, changes of sea level and convective flow in the
Earth mantle, all these effects cause transport and redistribution
of masses.
Using innovative and extremely precise sensor systems,
dedicated gravity field and altimeter satellites observe the
implication of these processes. The common analysis of
this data shall improve the knowledge about these processes
within the system Earth.
The themes (i.e. the main research topics of the first phase),
which again comprise a number of projects, are
– Observing the Earth system from space,
– Ocean dynamics,
– Ice mass balance and sea level,
– Glacial isostatic adjustment,
– Dynamic of crust and mantle,
– Continental hydrology,
– Consistent data combination and mass signal separation.
More information on the DFG Priority Programme SP1257
can be obtained from http://www.massentransporte.de.
The geodetic research in polar regions, which has been
intensified recently due to the International Polar Year
2007/2008, or the investigation of sea level changes benefit
largely from those coordinated activities (see also the
chapter of DIETRICH in this report).
These joint research programmes also provide significant
contributions to international activities such as the project
GGOS (Global Geodetic Observing System) which has
been established and coordinated by the International
Association of Geodesy (IAG), see the separate section of
M. ROTHACHER on GGOS in this report. The consistent
modelling/analysis as well as the combination and integration
of the various observation methods therefore present
important efforts to global geodesy.
Related activities
German scientists contribute to almost all IAG bodies, e.g.
H. DREWES (DGFI) as president of IAG-Commission 1,
which has direct or indirect effect on the other Commissions,
too. Here, only a few activities related to the IAG
Services are mentioned. Since 2001, the IERS Central
Bureau is hosted and funded by the Bundesamt für Kartographie
and Geodäsie (BKG). Its tasks in the past years are
documented in a separate section by B. Richter below.
German geodesists also take leading positions in further
IAG Services such as A. NOTHNAGEL (IVS), J. MÜLLER
(ILRS), M. ROTHACHER (IERS, GGOS), or J. DOW (IGS)
whose work guarantee international integration. Their
activities are described within the sections addressing the
respective topics.
Finally also the very large support of Germany on the
observational side should be mentioned: At the fundamental
station Wettzell (and similar TIGO in Concepcion, Chile),
not only all space geodetic techniques are operating (see
section by A. NOTHNAGEL), but they also contribute
significantly to the determination of all Earth orientation
parameters as well as the realisation of the international
celestial and terrestrial reference systems.
The contribution of Germany to design, realise and operate
the gravity field satellite missions CHAMP, GRACE and
GOCE as well as their analyses is addressed in the section
by F. FLECHTNER and T. GRUBER.
References
ILK K.H., FLURY J., RUMMEL R., SCHWINTZER P., BOSCH W.,
HAAS C., SCHRÖTER J., STAMMER D., ZAHEL W., MILLER
H., DIETRICH R., HUYBRECHTS P., SCHMELING H., WOLF
D., GÖTZE H.J., RIEGGER J., BARDOSSY A., GÜNTNER A.,
GRUBER TH.: Mass transport and mass distribution in the
Earth system – Contribution of the new generation of
satellite gravity and altimetry missions to geosciences.
GOCE Projektbüro, TU München und GFZ Potsdam, 2005.
SCHUH, H., DILL R., GREINER-MAI H., KUTTERER H., MÜLLER
J., NOTHNAGEL A., RICHTER B., ROTHACHER M., SCHREIBER
U., SOFFEL M.: Erdrotation und globale dynamische
Prozesse. Stand und Ziele der Modellbildung, der Mess- und
der Auswerteverfahren. Mitteilungen des Bundesamtes für
Kartographie und Geodäsie, Band 32, Frankfurt a.M., 2003