Measuring Height Difference Using Two-Way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer

Abstract

According to general relativity theory (GRT), the clock at a position with lower geopotential ticks slower than an identical one at a position with higher geopotential. Here, we provide a geopotential comparison using a non-transportable hydrogen clock and a transportable hydrogen clock for altitude transmission based on the two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) technique. First, we set one hydrogen clock on the fifth floor and another hydrogen clock on the ground floor, with their height difference of 22.8 m measured by tape, and compared the time difference between these two clocks by TWSTFT for 13 days. Then, we set both clocks on the ground floor and compared the time difference between the two clocks for seven days for zero-baseline calibration (synchronization). Based on the measured time difference between the two clocks at different floors, we obtained the height difference 28.0 ± 5.4 m, which coincides well with the tape-measured result. This experiment provides a method of height propagation using precise clocks based on the TWSTFT technique.