Observing UT1-UTC with VGOS

Abstract

We present first results for the determination of UT1-UTC using the VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS). During December 2019 through February 2020, a series of 1 h long observing sessions were performed using the VGOS stations at Ishioka in Japan and the Onsala twin telescopes in Sweden. These VGOS-B sessions were observed simultaneously to standard legacy S/X-band Intensive sessions. The VGOS-B data were correlated, post-correlation processed, and analysed at the Onsala Space Observatory. The derived UT1-UTC results were compared to corresponding results from standard legacy S/X-band Intensive sessions (INT1/INT2), as well as to the final values of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Frame Service (IERS), provided in IERS Bulletin B. The VGOS-B series achieves 3–4 times lower formal uncertainties for the UT1-UTC results than standard legacy S/X-band INT series. The RMS agreement w.r.t. to IERS Bulletin B is slightly better for the VGOS-B results than for the simultaneously observed legacy S/X-band INT1 results, and the VGOS-B results have a small bias only with the smallest remaining standard deviation. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].