Improvement of Nonrigid - Earth Nutation Theory by Adding a Model Free Core Nutation Term

Abstract. From the analysis of VLBI observational data compiled by USNO (U.S. Naval Observatory) from MJD 44089.994 to 51618.250 (McCarthy, 2000), we showed that a strong peak around 400 sidereal days in the spectrum of its di erences from the IERS96 nutation theory could be explained by adding a model Free Core Nutation (FCN) term in the form of a single damped oscillation. Then we developed a new analytical theory of the nonrigid-Earth nutation including the derived FCN model. We adopted RDAN98 (Roosbeek and Dehant, 1998) as the rigid Earth nutation theory. It was convolved with a transfer function using numerical convolution in the time domain (Shirai and Fukushima, 2000). The form of the transfer function was the same as that of Herring (1995). However, its free parameters such as the complex amplitude and frequency of the FCN were readjusted by tting to the above VLBI data. Even after truncating the forced nutation series so as to contain only 180 terms, the WRMS (Weighted Root Mean Square) of the complex residuals for the new nutation series is 0.312 mas, which is signi cantly smaller than 0.325 mas, that of the IERS96 nutation theory. As for the FCN term, we estimated its oscillatory period as 430:8 0:6 sidereal days, and its Q-value as 1620