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| Titel |
Extraction of tidal Love number h by local basis functions expressed as rectangular grid for synthetic data of the BepiColombo laser altimeter |
| VerfasserIn |
C. Koch, U. R. Christensen, R. Kallenbach |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2009
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 11 (2009) |
| Datensatznummer |
250020934
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Solar tidal forces generate elevation changes of Mercury’s surface of the order 1 m
within one Hermean year. Knowledge of the precise reaction of the planet to tidal
forcing, expressed by the Love numbers h2 and k2 puts constraints on the internal
structure, for example the state and the size of the core. We investigate if the Love
number h2 can simultaneously be determined together with the static topography
of the planet from a global synthetic altimetry record of the BepiColombo Laser
Altimeter BELA over the nominal mission duration of approximately 4 Mercury
years. We find that for a precise determination of the tidal Love number h2 the
extracted topography grid must have a resolution similar to the resolution given
by the spacing of spacecraft tracks on Mercury’s surface. The tidal Love number
is extracted with an accuracy of at least 3% by using higher order interpolation
methods such as cubic Spline interpolation. Restricting the data coverage in time
or space or both leads to an increase of the uncertainty of the tidal Love number.
The simulation results demonstrate that it seems feasible to test current models on
Mercury’s interior with sufficient precision using BepiColombo Laser Altimeter data. |
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