Abstract:
The characters of the secular and long-period variations in the length of day and the harmonic coefficient
J2 of geopotential were analyzed based on the recent observational result of the length of day,the result of
J2 variations in the recent twenty years and the ancient astronomical result of the Earth rotation.Then the relation and difference between variations of the length of day and
J2 were discussed according to the theory of the Earth rotation and gravity.Furthermore we stressed the importance of
J2 and the integrated use of the length of day and
J2 for geodynamics.