Love Numbers

Love numbers are dimensionless parameters that describe the elastic response of the Earth to external gravitational forcing, primarily from the Moon and the Sun. They quantify how the Earth deforms and how its gravity field changes under tidal and surface loading effects. The main types include displacement Love numbers (h, l) and potential Love numbers (k).

In geodesy, Love numbers are fundamental for modeling solid Earth tides, ocean tidal loading, atmospheric and hydrological loading effects, and time-variable gravity signals. Accurate Love number values are required in the analysis of GNSS, VLBI, SLR, and satellite gravimetry observations to correctly interpret crustal deformation, gravity field variations, and Earth rotation changes.