Seasonal changes redistribute enough water around Earth to shift the planet’s center of mass back and forth by fractions of an inch relative to its geometric center.
A team, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has proposed a way to calculate the seasonal swings with precision.
The study isn’t the first attempt to pin down Earth’s center of mass.
Because of this, Earth’s center of mass continually swivels around its geometric center by as much as several millimeters.
A month later, in April, rainwater in the Amazon River basin peaks at 2,400 gigatons, swinging Earth’s center of mass 2.2 millimeters toward South America.
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How
Summarized version
One limitation of satellite laser ranging is the uneven distribution of ground stations around Earth. The study authors tracked Earth’s center of mass oscillating seasonally and attributed the cause to three categories: oceans, atmosphere, and continental water.
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Seasonal changes redistribute enough water around Earth to shift the planet’s center of mass back and forth by fractions of an inch relative to its geometric center. NASA scientists are on the case, tracking the oscillations because Earth’s center of mass is a reference point for satellite navigation and elevation measurements.
A team, led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has proposed a way to calculate the seasonal swings with precision. The technique and findings are detailed in a new study published in Geophysical Journal International.
The study isn’t the first attempt to pin down Earth’s center of mass. If Earth were a hard blue marble, its center of mass would overlap its geometric center. Because of this, Earth’s center of mass continually swivels around its geometric center by as much as several millimeters.
The last two international estimates, made in 2017 and 2023, differ by 0.27 inches, about the height of three stacked nickels.
Driven by gravity, satellites naturally orbit Earth’s center of mass, as if bound by invisible tethers. Small changes in the distance between satellites and ground stations reflect Earth’s shifting center of mass.
Using satellites to locate Earth’s center of mass is not a new idea. Resembling 900-pound disco balls, both Laser Geodynamics Satellites are studded with reflective prisms and tracked with laser precision via ground stations globally distributed across more than 20 countries.
A month later, in April, rainwater in the Amazon River basin peaks at 2,400 gigatons, swinging Earth’s center of mass 2.2 millimeters toward South America.
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