Determination of the lunar body tide from global laser altimetry data
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Thor, Robin N.; Kallenbach, Reinald; Christensen, Ulrich R.; Gläser, Philipp; Stark, Alexander; Steinbrügge, Gregor; Oberst, Jürgen; Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany; Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
- Source
- Subject
- ddc:523
ddc:629
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Lunar orbiter
Laser altimetry
LRO
Laser Altimeter
Lunar interior
Tides
01 natural sciences
Geochemistry and Petrology
0103 physical sciences
Altimeter
Computers in Earth Sciences
Moon
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Planetengeodäsie
Inversion (meteorology)
Geodesy
Geophysics
ddc:520
Planetare Sensorsysteme
Love number
Geology
Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter
- Language
- English
We use global data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) to retrieve the lunar tidal Love number h2 and find h2 = 0.0387 ± 0.0025. This result is in agreement with previous estimates from laser altimetry using crossover points of LOLA profiles. The Love numbers k2 and h2 are key constraints on planetary interior models. We further develop and apply a retrieval method based on a simultaneous inversion for the topography and the tidal signal benefiting from the large volume of LOLA data. By the application to the lunar tides, we also demonstrate the potential of the method for future altimetry experiments at other planetary bodies. The results of this study are very promising with respect to the determination of Mercury’s and Ganymede’s h2 from future altimeter measurements.
DLR Space Administration
International Max Planck Research School on Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659