Design of experiment for earth rotation and baseline parameter determination from very long baseline interferometry

Abstract:  The possibility of recovering earth rotation and network geometry (baseline) parameters are emphasized. The numerical simulated experiments performed are set up in an environment where station coordinates vary with respect to inertial space according to a simulated earth rotation model similar to the actual but unknown rotation of the earth. The basic technique of VLBI and its mathematical model are presented. The parametrization of earth rotation chosen is described and the resulting model is linearized. A simple analysis of the geometry of the observations leads to some useful hints on achieving maximum sensitivity of the observations with respect to the parameters considered. The basic philosophy for the simulation of data and their analysis through standard least squares adjustment techniques is presented. A number of characteristic network designs based on present and candidate station locations are chosen. The results of the simulations for each design are presented together with a summary of the conclusions.