Computations of Green's Functions for Ocean Tide Loading

Book chapter, 2012

The Earth deforms periodically due to the varying weight of the ocean tides. Classical terrestrial geodetic techniques such as gravimetry, strain and tilt observe this deformation clearly. Also space geodetic techniques have reached an accuracy level where this loading signal can no longer be ignored. We present here the basic physical assumptions that underlie, and the derivation of, the mathematical framework that is used nowadays to compute these deformations. Special attention has been paid to the definition of the boundary conditions, how to treat the fluid core and the peculiarities that surround the deformation of the solid Earth at degree one. Also a short explanation of the Longman-Paradox is given. Finally, we discuss numerical methods to solve the differential equations and how to form the Green's functions that describe the ocean tide loading due to a point load.