_version_ 1866912982025371648
author Negusini, Monia
Heo, Myoung-Sun
Clivati, Cecilia
Xu, Shuangjing
Ricci, Roberto
Jung, Taehyun
Cho, Buseung
Stagni, Matteo
Bortolotti, Claudio
Maccaferri, Giuseppe
Perini, Federico
Roma, Mauro
Byun, Do-Young
Je, Do-Heung
Pizzocaro, Marco
Calonico, Davide
Cantoni, Elena
Cerretto, Giancarlo
Condio, Stefano
Costanzo, Giovanni A.
Donadello, Simone
Goti, Irene
Gozzelino, Michele
Mura, Alberto
Levi, Filippo
Risaro, Matias
Kim, Huidong
Lee, Won-Kyu
Park, Chang Yong
Yu, Dai-Hyuk
Lee, Young Kyu
Rhee, Joon Hyo
Park, Chanjin
Lee, Minseong
Kim, Hyo Ryoung
Yoo, Sung-Moon
Cho, Jungho
Kim, Jongsoo
Yi, Sang-Oh
Yoon, Ha Su
de Vicente, Pablo
González, Javier
Miró, Cristina García
author_facet Negusini, Monia
Heo, Myoung-Sun
Clivati, Cecilia
Xu, Shuangjing
Ricci, Roberto
Jung, Taehyun
Cho, Buseung
Stagni, Matteo
Bortolotti, Claudio
Maccaferri, Giuseppe
Perini, Federico
Roma, Mauro
Byun, Do-Young
Je, Do-Heung
Pizzocaro, Marco
Calonico, Davide
Cantoni, Elena
Cerretto, Giancarlo
Condio, Stefano
Costanzo, Giovanni A.
Donadello, Simone
Goti, Irene
Gozzelino, Michele
Mura, Alberto
Levi, Filippo
Risaro, Matias
Kim, Huidong
Lee, Won-Kyu
Park, Chang Yong
Yu, Dai-Hyuk
Lee, Young Kyu
Rhee, Joon Hyo
Park, Chanjin
Lee, Minseong
Kim, Hyo Ryoung
Yoo, Sung-Moon
Cho, Jungho
Kim, Jongsoo
Yi, Sang-Oh
Yoon, Ha Su
de Vicente, Pablo
González, Javier
Miró, Cristina García
contents An intercontinental metrological clock comparison between Italy and the Republic of Korea was performed by means of geodetic K-band VLBI observations. The comparison involved the hydrogen masers (H-masers) used at Medicina and Sejong radio telescopes. The same clocks were simultaneously compared by a satellite link and by high-precision optical clocks maintained at the National Metrology Institutes, KRISS in Korea and INRIM in Italy, and delivered to VLBI antennas via optical fiber. The H-masers frequency difference was estimated by extrapolating the clock rate from VLBI data using two geodetic VLBI software. This was subsequently compared with clock differences derived by satellite link and by local optical clocks. Results obtained with different approaches were in agreement at the level of $10^{-15}$ s/s. This pilot study demonstrates that standard high-frequency (K-band) geodetic VLBI campaigns could be a viable approach to conduct intercontinental clock comparisons, now only possible via satellite links. This uncertainty can be reduced thanks to the planned installation of new-generation, broadband, high-frequency receivers on the involved telescopes. K/Q/W-band geodetic observations will allow an improvement of the accuracy of the resulting group delays through broad bandwidth synthesis from 20 to 100 GHz. Furthermore, the Frequency Phase Transfer (FPT) method will also be explored together with the use of PCAL systems installed at the radio telescopes to improve phase stability and thus allow a better estimation of the station clock parameters.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_23078
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A High-frequency Geodetic VLBI Experiment for Optical Clock Comparison
Negusini, Monia
Heo, Myoung-Sun
Clivati, Cecilia
Xu, Shuangjing
Ricci, Roberto
Jung, Taehyun
Cho, Buseung
Stagni, Matteo
Bortolotti, Claudio
Maccaferri, Giuseppe
Perini, Federico
Roma, Mauro
Byun, Do-Young
Je, Do-Heung
Pizzocaro, Marco
Calonico, Davide
Cantoni, Elena
Cerretto, Giancarlo
Condio, Stefano
Costanzo, Giovanni A.
Donadello, Simone
Goti, Irene
Gozzelino, Michele
Mura, Alberto
Levi, Filippo
Risaro, Matias
Kim, Huidong
Lee, Won-Kyu
Park, Chang Yong
Yu, Dai-Hyuk
Lee, Young Kyu
Rhee, Joon Hyo
Park, Chanjin
Lee, Minseong
Kim, Hyo Ryoung
Yoo, Sung-Moon
Cho, Jungho
Kim, Jongsoo
Yi, Sang-Oh
Yoon, Ha Su
de Vicente, Pablo
González, Javier
Miró, Cristina García
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Atomic Physics
An intercontinental metrological clock comparison between Italy and the Republic of Korea was performed by means of geodetic K-band VLBI observations. The comparison involved the hydrogen masers (H-masers) used at Medicina and Sejong radio telescopes. The same clocks were simultaneously compared by a satellite link and by high-precision optical clocks maintained at the National Metrology Institutes, KRISS in Korea and INRIM in Italy, and delivered to VLBI antennas via optical fiber. The H-masers frequency difference was estimated by extrapolating the clock rate from VLBI data using two geodetic VLBI software. This was subsequently compared with clock differences derived by satellite link and by local optical clocks. Results obtained with different approaches were in agreement at the level of $10^{-15}$ s/s. This pilot study demonstrates that standard high-frequency (K-band) geodetic VLBI campaigns could be a viable approach to conduct intercontinental clock comparisons, now only possible via satellite links. This uncertainty can be reduced thanks to the planned installation of new-generation, broadband, high-frequency receivers on the involved telescopes. K/Q/W-band geodetic observations will allow an improvement of the accuracy of the resulting group delays through broad bandwidth synthesis from 20 to 100 GHz. Furthermore, the Frequency Phase Transfer (FPT) method will also be explored together with the use of PCAL systems installed at the radio telescopes to improve phase stability and thus allow a better estimation of the station clock parameters.
title A High-frequency Geodetic VLBI Experiment for Optical Clock Comparison
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23078