AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - NASA study finds Earth's center of mass shifts with the seasons, raising questions about navigation accuracy
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have published new findings showing Earth's center of mass constantly shifts by several millimeters each season, a phenomenon that could affect the satellite systems modern shipping and agriculture depend on. A team led by Dr. Donald Argus developed a new ultraprecise satellite tracking technique to measure how water, ice, […] The post NASA study finds Earth's center of mass shifts with the seasons, raising questions about navigation accuracy appeared first on American Almanac .
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have published new findings showing Earth's center of mass constantly shifts by several millimeters each season, a phenomenon that could affect the satellite systems modern shipping and agriculture depend on. A team led by Dr. Donald Argus developed a new ultraprecise satellite tracking technique to measure how water, ice, and air redistribute across the planet throughout the year, tugging Earth's center of mass in different directions month by month. The study, published in the Geophysical Journal International, maps a seasonal cycle that swings the planet's mass center toward the North Pole in winter and toward South America in spring, shifts measured in millimeters but large enough to…Open