Czesław Suchocki

Time changes of the potential Love tidal parameters k2 and k3

The planet Earth is continuously changing in time, so there are phenomena that require continuous observation, including tidal parameters. The main goal of this study is to analyze time changes of the Love potential tidal parameters. This paper concerns an analysis of the estimated Love numbers k for the second and the third degree tides (numbers k2 and k3), associated with the tide variations of the satellite motion. The measured data used for determining the parameters k2, k3 were conducted within the period of January 1, 2014 until July 1, 2016 by LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 satellites. The results were compared with our previous determination of these parameters from LAGEOS data during the period from January 1, 2005 until July 1, 2007 to examine whether any systematic differences and time evolution occur. The adjusted values for k2 equalling 0.29842 ± 0.00008 and k3 equalling 0.0901 ± 0.0034 are discussed and compared with the nominal values given in International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service standards. The differences between the k2 and k3 values obtained for the time interval 2005.0–2007.5 and the results for 2014.0–2016.5 interval are –0.00288 for k2 and 0.0042 for k3. The obtained differences in the k2 and k3 values may indicate their evolution in time.