Global tidal parameters

Summary Global tidal parameters are shown to have recently increased in accuracy, after more than twenty years of LLR and a decade of superconducting gravimetry, whereas the numerical values for the Earth have not changed substantially. Numerical values of Love numbers for terrestrial planets and the moon are also given for degrees higher than four as load numbers are basically linear combinations of Love numbers, at least for spherical non-rotation approximations. Numerical values for planetary moons, as far as they are known, have also been included in the paper. The static and dynamic behaviour of long-period and pole tide is discussed. Inner solid and outer fluid core effects are critically reviewed, also in view of a century of terrestrial tide observations of the classical type. The separation of long-period tides from secular effects (on a rotating Earth) such as J_n (n<5), is considered.Dedicated to the Memory of M. S. Molodensky