Estimation of the free core nutation period by the sliding-window complex least-squares fit method

Abstract

Estimation of the free core nutation (FCN) period is a challenging prospect. Mostly, two methods, one direct and one indirect, have been applied in the past to address the problem by analyzing the Earth orientation parameters observed by the very long baseline interferometry. The indirect method estimates the FCN period from resonance effects of the FCN on forced nutation terms, whereas the direct method estimates the FCN period using the Fourier Transform (FT) approach. However, the FCN period estimated by the direct FT technique suffers from the non-stationary characteristics of celestial pole offsets (CPO). In this study, the FCN period is estimated by another direct method, i.e., the sliding-window complex least-squares fit method (SCLF). The estimated values of the FCN period for the full set of 1984.0–2014.0 and four subsets (1984.0–2000.0, 2000.0–2014.0, 1984.0–1990.0, 1990.0–2014.0) range from −428.8 to −434.3 mean solar days. From the FT to the SCLF method, the estimate uncertainty of the FCN period falls from several tens of days to several days. Thus, the SCLF method may serve as an independent direct way to estimate the FCN period, complementing and validating the indirect resonance method that has been frequently used before.