Earth orientation parameters (EOP) comprising of celestial pole offsets, terrestrial pole coordinates, and the Earth's spin rate (i.e., UT1-UTC) represent a critically needed link between the terrestrial and the celestial reference frame. Predictions of EOP are important for a number of operational activities including navigation of deep-space satellite missions, the pointing of astronomical instruments, or satellite-based positioning on Earth. Various agencies and institutions worldwide therefore maintain capacities to rapidly process space geodetic observations to obtain estimates for the Earth orientation parameters with short latencies as a basis for the subsequent prediction. Whereas many users require predictions for only a few days into the future, IERS routinely publishes predictions for up to 1 year ahead within its Bulletin A.
Between 2006 and 2008, the 1st EOP Prediction Comparison Campaign (EOP PCC) assessed various EOP prediction methods in an operational setting. The 2nd EOP PCC took place between 2021 and 2022, organized by CBK Warsaw with support from GFZ Potsdam. Building on these results, this working group (formerly: Working Group on the 2nd Earth Orientation Parameter Prediction Comparison Campaign) will study current EOP prediction accuracies and explore ways to combine predictions from different institutions for greater reliability, robustness, and accuracy.
Further details can be found in the WG Charter (IERS/IAG/IAU Joint Working Group on the Prediction of Earth Orientation Parameters (PEOP)) (not accessible) [PDF, 146 KB] .
