Press Release GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
How the Earth spins: New DFG research group to measure tiniest fluctuations
The Earth continuously rotates constantly on its axis like a giant spinning top. However, this rotation is not constant; it is influenced by factors such as high-pressure areas in the atmosphere, the shifting of water masses by the tides, and even the melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and at the poles. It is precisely these fluctuations that are the focus of the new research group “RING: Rotations in Physics, Geophysics and Geodesy”, which is being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with four million euros over four years. The project is based on the technological advancement of ring laser systems, which can be used to measure the Earth’s rotation with high precision.
“Precise measurements of the Earth’s rotation are essential not only for climate change research but also for the proper functioning of navigation devices,” explains Heiner Igel, Professor of Geophysics and Seismology at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and spokesperson for the new research group. The principal investigators (PIs) from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences are Dr Robert Heinkelmann, head of a research group in Section 1.1 “Space Geodetic Techniques”, and Prof. Dr Andreas Güntner, head of a research group in Section 4.4 “Hydrology”. More …
