Steering of the national time scale UTC(KZ) based on passive hydrogen masers according to the rapid UTC data

As an important characteristic of the national time scale, we can mention its deviation from the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) scale. The appearance of the rapid Coordinated Universal Time scale (UTCr) offers a potential ability to form national time scales capable of repeating the UTC with a high accuracy. The information about deviations of the national time scales in the Rapid UTC is weekly updated. In this case, it becomes possible to use more cost-efficient atomic clocks characterized by a greater frequency instability as compared with active hydrogen masers currently used in the leading time-keeping metrological laboratories. The possibility of using of the data of the Rapid Coordinated Universal Time scale (UTCr) for implementing a national time scale based on passive hydrogen masers with high UTC tracking accuracy is demonstrated by an example of the National Coordinated Universal Time Scale of Kazakhstan, UTC(KZ). We present the results of operation of the automatic steering system for the UTC(KZ) time scale based on the Rapid UTC data published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The algorithm of operation of the automatic steering system is described and its parameters are justified.

It is shown that a time scale based on passive hydrogen masers with weekly corrections according to the Rapid UTC data has a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 2.5 nsec and a maximum deviation that does not exceed 8 nsec over a two-year period of observations.