Lunar Laser Ranging: Consistent modelling for geodetic and further scientific applications

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Müller
• Subject Area: Geophysics and Geodesy
• Term: from 2006 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5471782

Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), which is carried out for more than 34 years, allows the derivation of many Earth orientation quantities (e.g. nutation, polar-motion, relativistic precession) and contributes considerably to the stabilization of long-term EOP series. A further strength of LLR is the determination of many parameters of the Earth-Moon System (e.g. station and reflector coordinates, lunar orbit and gravity field, tidal acceleration) along with relativistic quantities (e.g. equivalence principle, time-variable gravitational constant, metric parameters). In this project LLR modeling shall bi improved to achieve the same level of accuracy as the other space geodetic techniques. This is the basis for a consistent combination with them and allows a better determination and de-correlation of the parameters of the Earth-Moon System. It is expected that the relativistic parameters are determined with higher accuracy and that they can be better separated from other effects. In addition, further processes (e.g. related to the Moon¿s interior, relativity) shall be investigated.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 584: Earth Rotation and Global Dynamic Processes
• Participating Person: Professor Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Schreiber