Altitude Corrections for Coriolis and Other Accelerations

Extract

Some apology, or at least an adequate excuse, is needed for resurrecting a theoretical treatment of the effect of coriolis acceleration on observations of altitude made with a bubble sextant. Such an excuse is provided by the recent publication by Dr. J. J. Green of an article suggesting that the correction table (Z-correction) given in both the British and American Air Almanacs (and in many other Air Almanacs) is incomplete. In a reasoned letter to the Editor of Navigation, Dr. G. M. Clemence, Director of the American Nautical Almanac Office, has given a simple and straightforward explanation of the two separate and distinct causes for the deviation of the zenith as indicated by the bubble of a bubble sextant; and he has further justified the present practice adopted in the almanacs. Considerable interest has, however, been aroused and it seems opportune to give a previously unpublished general derivation of the theoretical correction, together with a brief discussion of the difficulties of practical application.