Abstract :
Earth rotation parameters (ERP) in the interval 1899.7–1992.0 are obtained from re-analysis of the observed latitude/universal time variations by optical astrometry. Hipparcos Catalogue is used to define the celestial reference frame, within which the ERP are described, with special care devoted to ʹproblematicʹ double and/or multiple stars. The terrestrial reference frame is defined by the adopted latitudes/longitudes of participating instruments and their secular motions as given by the NUVEL-1 NNR model of plate motions, and it is chosen to be very close to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). More than four million observations made with 48 different instruments at 31 observatories, located all over the world, are utilized to determine polar motion, celestial pole offsets and (after 1956) universal time UT1, all at 5-day intervals. Along with these parameters, the combinations of Love and Shida numbers, governing the tidal variations of the local verticals at individual observatories, are also determined. The analysis of the results covering almost a century, namely the long-periodic polar motion and length-of-day changes, is presented.
