In the IAS focus group on satellite geodesy, three IAS fellows explore new methods by using highly accurate tracking data of satellite trajectories in order to gain information about variations in the gravitational field of the Earth, indicating mass movement in ocean currents, atmosphere and frozen surface of the Earth. This research will thus be applied to measure the effects of climate changes, e.g., on the circumpolar currents.

Prof. Gerhard Beutler is the director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern, where the “Bernese GPS Software” was developed that has become the international standard for the scientific use of tracking data of navigational satellites (GPS, GLONASS, and in the future also GALILEO). As a “Hans Fischer Senior Fellow” of IAS, Beutler works with Dr. Jäggi and Prof. Mervart from the Czech Technical University in Prague, who will be a guest of the IAS, on developing new ideas for their so called “Celestial Mechanics” approach for gravity field recovery.

Prof. Reiner Rummel is the head of TUM’s Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy . Rummel, who is also a winner of the Bavarian best university teacher awards of 2006, is currently heading the project office of ESA’s GOCE satellite expected for launch next year. The new approaches developed in the IAS focus group can be tested with the GOCE data and eventually help with their interpretation.

Dr. Adrian Jäggi who is holding a special postdoc fellowship from IAS has done his dissertational work on a generalization of the so called “reduced-dynamic approach” of determining satellite trajectories of highest accuracy using pseudo-stochastic orbit modeling. Jäggi is continuing his work in Munich, soon to bee joined by PhD students of the IAS focus group.

Prof. Leos Mervart will join the focus group for some months in order to contribute to the project. Mervart, a coauthor of the Bernese GPS software, is full professor at the Institute of Geodesy of the Czech Technical University in Prague. His interests are real-time GPS applications and software engineering.

Presentation of the current status of the IAS-research project:

"Gravitationsfeldbestimmung mit den Methoden der Himmelsmechanik: Untersuchungen zur Methode"
G. Beutler, A. Jäggi, L. Mervart
April 15, 2008, TU München