The impact of the new CHAMP and GRACE Earth gravity models on the measurement of the general relativistic Lense--Thirring effect with the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites

Abstract

Among the effects predicted by the General Theory of Relativity for the orbital motion of a test particle, the post-Newtonian gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect is very interesting and, up to now, there is not yet an undisputable experimental direct test of it. To date, the data analysis of the orbits of the existing geodetic LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites has yielded a test of the Lense-Thirring effect with a claimed accuracy of 20%-30%. According to some scientists such estimates could be optimistic. Here we wish to discuss the improvements obtainable in this measurement, in terms of reliability of the evaluation of the systematic error and reduction of its magnitude, due to the new CHAMP and GRACE Earth gravity models.

LaTex2e, 6 pages, no figures, no tables. Paper presented at 2nd CHAMP science meeting, Potsdam, 1-4 September 2003

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• On the reliability of the so far performed tests for measuring the Lense-Thirring effect with the LAGEOS satellites
• On the possibility of testing the Brane-World scenario with orbital motions in the Solar System
• An assessment of the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Earth gravity field, in reply to: ``On the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect using the nodes of the LAGEOS satellites, in reply to ``On the reliability of the so far performed tests for measuring the Lense-Thirring effect with the LAGEOS satellites'' by L. Iorio,'' by I. Ciufolini and E. Pavlis
• Conservative evaluation of the uncertainty in the LAGEOS-LAGEOS II Lense-Thirring test
• The impact of the new Earth gravity model EIGEN-CG03C on the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect with some existing Earth satellites
• On a possible new approach for investigating the secular variations of the low-degree geopotential coefficients
• Some comments on the recent results about the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth with the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites
• Some comments about a recent paper on the measurement of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth with the laser-ranged LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites
• On the impossibility of using certain existing spacecraft for the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect in the terrestrial gravitational field