Precise earth-rotation parameters derived by satellite laser ranging data.

The LAGEOS satellite laser ranging data of the MERIT campaign were analysed by means of the POTSDAM-5 orbital program. First a set of geocentric station coordinates was determined. The internal precision of the station position is about ±2 cm. The pole coordinates and length of day (LOD) were estimated for overlapping 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-day intervals. For the 5- and 3-day resolution the precision is nearly the same, about ±0.0005" (±1.5 cm) for the pole coordinates and ±0.02 ms for the LOD in the average.