General relativity and geodesy

authored by: Eva Hackmann, Moritz Huckfeldt, Claus Lämmerzahl, Dennis Philipp, Benny Rievers
Abstract: Mass redistribution on Earth due to dynamic processes such as ice melting and sea-level rise leads to a changing gravitational field, observable by geodetic techniques. Monitoring this change over time allows us to learn more about our planet and its dynamic evolution. In this paper, we highlight the impact of General Relativity (GR) on geodesy: it provides corrections essential for the interpretation of high-precision measurements and enables a completely novel measurement approach using chronometry, i.e. clock-based observations. Focusing on the latter, we review the construction of the relativistic gravity potential and the corresponding geoid definition as an isochronometric surface to elucidate the comparison to the conventional Newtonian geoid. Furthermore, we comment on additional potentials due to the non-Newtonian degrees of freedom of the relativistic gravitational field, and assess the feasibility of clock-based measurements for Gravity Field Recovery (GFR) from space. Although clock observations in space demonstrate technical promise for GFR, achieving the necessary precision for practical applications remains challenging.
External Organisation(s): University of Bremen
Type: Article
Journal: International Journal of Modern Physics D
ISSN: 0218-2718
Publication date: 28.02.2025
Publication status: Accepted/In press
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Mathematical Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218271825400115 (Access: Unknown)

BibTeX

@article{319a9a08bbed4800902369ba861842cc,
title = "General relativity and geodesy",
abstract = "Mass redistribution on Earth due to dynamic processes such as ice melting and sea-level rise leads to a changing gravitational field, observable by geodetic techniques. Monitoring this change over time allows us to learn more about our planet and its dynamic evolution. In this paper, we highlight the impact of General Relativity (GR) on geodesy: it provides corrections essential for the interpretation of high-precision measurements and enables a completely novel measurement approach using chronometry, i.e. clock-based observations. Focusing on the latter, we review the construction of the relativistic gravity potential and the corresponding geoid definition as an isochronometric surface to elucidate the comparison to the conventional Newtonian geoid. Furthermore, we comment on additional potentials due to the non-Newtonian degrees of freedom of the relativistic gravitational field, and assess the feasibility of clock-based measurements for Gravity Field Recovery (GFR) from space. Although clock observations in space demonstrate technical promise for GFR, achieving the necessary precision for practical applications remains challenging.",
keywords = "chronometry, clocks, gravity field recovery, gravity potential, Relativistic geodesy",
author = "Eva Hackmann and Moritz Huckfeldt and Claus L{\"a}mmerzahl and Dennis Philipp and Benny Rievers",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 World Scientific Publishing Company.",
year = "2025",
month = feb,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1142/S0218271825400115",
language = "English",
journal = "International Journal of Modern Physics D",
issn = "0218-2718",
publisher = "World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte Ltd",
}