Seasonal and secular positional variations at eight co-located GPS and VLBI stations

Time series of daily position solutions at eight co-located GPS and VLBI stations are used to assess the frequency features in the solutions over various time-scales. This study shows that there are seasonal and inter-annual signals in all three coordinate components of the GPS and VLBI solutions. The power and frequency of the signals vary with time, the station considered and the coordinate components, and between the GPS and VLBI solutions. In general, the magnitudes of the signals in the horizontal coordinate components (latitude and longitude) are weaker than those in the height component. The weighted means of the estimated annual amplitudes from the eight GPS stations are, respectively, 1.0, 0.8 and 3.6 mm for the latitude, longitude and height components, and are, respectively, 1.5, 0.7 and 2.2 mm for the VLBI solutions. The phases of the annual signals estimated from the GPS and VLBI solutions are consistent for most of the co-located stations. The seasonal signals estimated from the VLBI solutions are, in general, more stable than those estimated from the GPS solutions. Fluctuations at inter-annual time-scales are also found in the series. The inter-annual fluctuations are up to ∼5 mm for the latitude and longitude components, and up to ∼10 mm for the height component. The effects of the seasonal and inter-annual variations on the estimated linear rates of movement of the stations are also evaluated.     

Improving the modeling of the atmospheric delay in the data analysis of the Intensive VLBI sessions and the impact on the UT1 estimates

The very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Intensive sessions are typically 1-h and single-baseline VLBI sessions, specifically designed to yield low-latency estimates of UT1-UTC. In this work, we investigate what accuracy is obtained from these sessions and how it can be improved. In particular, we study the modeling of the troposphere in the data analysis. The impact of including external information on the zenith wet delays (ZWD) and tropospheric gradients from GPS or numerical weather prediction models is studied. Additionally, we test estimating tropospheric gradients in the data analysis, which is normally not done. To evaluate the results, we compared the UT1-UTC values from the Intensives to those from simultaneous 24-h VLBI session. Furthermore, we calculated length of day (LOD) estimates using the UT1-UTC values from consecutive Intensives and compared these to the LOD estimated by GPS. We find that there is not much benefit in using external ZWD; however, including external information on the gradients improves the agreement with the reference data. If gradients are estimated in the data analysis, and appropriate constraints are applied, the WRMS difference w.r.t. UT1-UTC from 24-h sessions is reduced by 5% and the WRMS difference w.r.t. the LOD from GPS by up to 12%. The best agreement between Intensives and the reference time series is obtained when using both external gradients from GPS and additionally estimating gradients in the data analysis.     

Earth orientation parameters estimated from VLBI during the CONT11 campaign

In this paper we investigate the accuracy of the earth orientation parameters (EOP) estimated from the continuous VLBI campaign CONT11. We first estimated EOP with daily resolution and compared these to EOP estimated from GNSS data. We find that the WRMS differences are about 31  $\upmu $ as for polar motion and 7  $\upmu $ s for length of day. This is about the precision we could expect, based on Monte Carlo simulations and the results of the previous CONT campaigns. We also estimated EOP with hourly resolution to study the sub-diurnal variations. The results confirm the results of previous studies, showing that the current IERS model for high-frequency EOP variations does not explain all the sub-diurnal variations seen in the estimated time series. We then compared our results to various empirical high-frequency EOP models. However, we did not find that any of these gave any unambiguous improvement. Several simulations testing the impact of various aspects of, e.g. the observing network were also made. For example, we made simulations assuming that all CONT11 stations were equipped with fast VLBI2010 antennas. We found that the WRMS error decreased by about a factor five compared to the current VLBI system. Furthermore, the simulations showed that it is very important to have a homogenous global distribution of the stations for achieving the highest precision for the EOP.     

Continental hydrology loading observed by VLBI measurements

Variations in continental water storage lead to loading deformation of the crust with typical peak-to-peak variations at very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) sites of 3–15 mm in the vertical component and 1–2 mm in the horizontal component. The hydrology signal at VLBI sites has annual and semi-annual components and clear interannual variations. We have calculated the hydrology loading series using mass loading distributions derived from the global land data assimilation system (GLDAS) hydrology model and alternatively from a global grid of equal-area gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) mascons. In the analysis of the two weekly VLBI 24-h R1 and R4 network sessions from 2003 to 2010 the baseline length repeatabilities are reduced in 79 % (80 %) of baselines when GLDAS (GRACE) loading corrections are applied. Site vertical coordinate repeatabilities are reduced in about 80 % of the sites when either GLDAS or GRACE loading is used. In the horizontal components, reduction occurs in 70–80 % of the sites. Estimates of the annual site vertical amplitudes were reduced for 16 out of 18 sites if either loading series was applied. We estimated loading admittance factors for each site and found that the average admittances were 1.01 \(\pm \) 0.05 for GRACE and 1.39 \(\pm \) 0.07 for GLDAS. The standard deviations of the GRACE admittances and GLDAS admittances were 0.31 and 0.68, respectively. For sites that have been observed in a set of sufficiently temporally dense daily sessions, the average correlation between VLBI vertical monthly averaged series and GLDAS or GRACE loading series was 0.47 and 0.43, respectively.     

VGOS超宽带观测的首次UT1测量数据处理及分析

在国际甚长基线干涉测量（very long baseline interferometry, VLBI）大地测量与天体测量服务组织协调下,首次利用隶属于VLBI全球观测系统（VLBI global observing system, VGOS）的美国Kokee和德国Wettzell观测站及并置的传统VLBI观测站开展了世界时（universal time, UT1）联合测量试验,观测数据在上海VLBI中心进行了干涉处理。结果表明,VGOS超宽带观测系统的UT1测量精度约为7 μs,并置基线的传统S/X双频系统测量精度约为14 μs,VGOS系统的UT1解算结果优于S/X系统。通过试验建立了从相关处理、相关后处理到UT1参数解算的完整数据处理流程,验证了上海VLBI相关处理机的VGOS数据处理能力,为承担国内和国际VGOS观测数据的相关处理任务奠定了基础。     

Quality assessment of GPS reprocessed terrestrial reference frame

The International GNSS Service (IGS) contributes to the construction of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) by submitting time series of station positions and Earth Rotation Parameters (ERP). For the first time, its submission to the ITRF2008 construction is based on a combination of entirely reprocessed GPS solutions delivered by 11 Analysis Centers (ACs). We analyze the IGS submission and four of the individual AC contributions in terms of the GNSS frame origin and scale, station position repeatability and time series seasonal variations. We show here that the GPS Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) origin is consistent with Satellite laser Ranging (SLR) at the centimeter level with a drift lower than 1 mm/year. Although the scale drift compared to Very Long baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and SLR mean scale is smaller than 0.4 mm/year, we think that it would be premature to use that information in the ITRF scale definition due to its strong dependence on the GPS satellite and ground antenna phase center variations. The new position time series also show a better repeatability compared to past IGS combined products and their annual variations are shown to be more consistent with loading models. The comparison of GPS station positions and velocities to those of VLBI via local ties in co-located sites demonstrates that the IGS reprocessed solution submitted to the ITRF2008 is more reliable and precise than any of the past submissions. However, we show that some of the remaining inconsistencies between GPS and VLBI positioning may be caused by uncalibrated GNSS radomes.     

利用GPS和GRACE研究澳大利亚地壳垂向季节性变化

为探究重力场恢复与气候实验(gravity recovery and climate experiment,GRACE)卫星与全球定位系统(global positioning system,GPS)两种独立技术获取的因陆地水储量变化引起的地壳垂向季节性位移的一致性,选取澳大利亚27个GPS站点5～10 a的高程时间序...     

GPS坐标时间序列中的异常高频周期性噪声

本文分析了中国地壳运动观测网络GPS基准站及中国周边IGS连续站坐标中的周期性噪声,在北、东和垂向分量坐标时间序列中均发现了周期约351/n(n=1,…,6)天的正弦项,而地表质量负荷造成的位移序列中并没有对应的成分,不能解释异常周期项的来源。在估计台站的运动速率时,如考虑此类"异常"周期项,速率误差略微减小,而周年项振幅的估计误差显著增大,且残差离散度未见明显改善。因此,不推荐在GPS速率矢量反演中加入异常周期项参数。     

Is there utility in rigorous combinations of VLBI and GPS Earth orientation parameters?

Combinations of station coordinates and velocities from independent space-geodetic techniques have long been the standard method to realize robust global terrestrial reference frames (TRFs). In principle, the particular strengths of one observing method can compensate for weaknesses in others if the combination is properly constructed, suitable weights are found, and accurate co-location ties are available. More recently, the methodology has been extended to combine time-series of results at the normal equation level. This allows Earth orientation parameters (EOPs) to be included and aligned in a fully consistent way with the TRF. While the utility of such multi-technique combinations is generally recognized for the reference frame, the benefits for the EOPs are yet to be quantitatively assessed. In this contribution, which is a sequel to a recent paper on co-location ties (Ray and Altamimi in J Geod 79(4–5): 189–195, 2005), we have studied test combinations of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and Global Positioning System (GPS) time-series solutions to evaluate the effects on combined EOP measurements compared with geophysical excitations. One expects any effect to be small, considering that GPS dominates the polar motion estimates due to its relatively dense and uniform global network coverage, high precision, continuous daily sampling, and homogeneity, while VLBI alone observes UT1-UTC. Presently, although clearly desirable, we see no practical method to rigorously include the GPS estimates of length-of-day variations due to significant time-varying biases. Nevertheless, our results, which are the first of this type, indicate that more accurate polar motion from GPS contributes to improved UT1-UTC results from VLBI. The situation with combined polar motion is more complex. The VLBI data contribute directly only very slightly, if at all, with an impact that is probably affected by the weakness of the current VLBI networks (small size and sparseness) and the quality of local ties relating the VLBI and GPS frames. Instead, the VLBI polar motion information is used primarily in rotationally aligning the VLBI and GPS frames, thereby reducing the dependence on co-location tie information. Further research is needed to determine an optimal VLBI-GPS combination strategy that yields the highest quality EOP estimates. Improved local ties (including internal systematic effects within the techniques) will be critically important in such an effort.     

A Global Terrestrial Reference Frame from simulated VLBI and SLR data in view of GGOS

In this study, we assess the impact of two combination strategies, namely local ties (LT) and global ties (GT), on the datum realization of Global Terrestrial Reference Frames in view of the Global Geodetic Observing System requiring 1 mm-accuracy. Simulated Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data over a 7 year time span was used. The LT results show that the geodetic datum can be best transferred if the precision of the LT is at least 1 mm. Investigating different numbers of LT, the lack of co-located sites on the southern hemisphere is evidenced by differences of 9 mm in translation and rotation compared to the solution using all available LT. For the GT, the combination applying all Earth rotation parameters (ERP), such as pole coordinates and UT1-UTC, indicates that the rotation around the Z axis cannot be adequately transferred from VLBI to SLR within the combination. Applying exclusively the pole coordinates as GT, we show that the datum can be transferred with mm-accuracy within the combination. Furthermore, adding artificial stations in Tahiti and Nigeria to the current VLBI network results in an improvement in station positions by 13 and 12%, respectively, and in ERP by 17 and 11%, respectively. Extending to every day VLBI observations leads to 65% better ERP estimates compared to usual twice-weekly VLBI observations.     

Non-linear station motions in epoch and multi-year reference frames

In the conventions of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (e.g. IERS Conventions 2010), it is recommended that the instantaneous station position, which is fixed to the Earth’s crust, is described by a regularized station position and conventional correction models. Current realizations of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame use a station position at a reference epoch and a constant velocity to describe the motion of the regularized station position in time. An advantage of this parameterization is the possibility to provide station coordinates of high accuracy over a long time span. Various publications have shown that residual non-linear station motions can reach a magnitude of a few centimeters due to not considered loading effects. Consistently estimated parameters like the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP) may be affected if these non-linear station motions are neglected. In this paper, we investigate a new approach, which is based on a frequent (e.g. weekly) estimation of station positions and EOP from a combination of epoch normal equations of the space geodetic techniques Global Positioning System (GPS), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). The resulting time series of epoch reference frames are studied in detail and are compared with the conventional secular approach. It is shown that both approaches have specific advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed in the paper. A major advantage of the frequently estimated epoch reference frames is that the non-linear station motions are implicitly taken into account, which is a major limiting factor for the accuracy of the secular frames. Various test computations and comparisons between the epoch and secular approach are performed. The authors found that the consistently estimated EOP are systematically affected by the two different combination approaches. The differences between the epoch and secular frames reach magnitudes of $23.6~\upmu \hbox {as}$ (0.73 mm) and $39.8~\upmu \hbox {as}$ (1.23 mm) for the x-pole and y-pole, respectively, in case of the combined solutions. For the SLR-only solutions, significant differences with amplitudes of $77.3~\upmu \hbox {as}$ (2.39 mm) can be found.     

Estimation and evaluation of real-time precipitable water vapor from GLONASS and GPS

The revitalized Russian GLONASS system provides new potential for real-time retrieval of zenith tropospheric delays (ZTD) and precipitable water vapor (PWV) in order to support time-critical meteorological applications such as nowcasting or severe weather event monitoring. In this study, we develop a method of real-time ZTD/PWV retrieval based on GLONASS and/or GPS observations. The performance of ZTD and PWV derived from GLONASS data using real-time precise point positioning (PPP) technique is carefully investigated and evaluated. The potential of combining GLONASS and GPS data for ZTD/PWV retrieving is assessed as well. The GLONASS and GPS observations of about half a year for 80 globally distributed stations from the IGS (International GNSS Service) network are processed. The results show that the real-time GLONASS ZTD series agree quite well with the GPS ZTD series in general: the RMS of ZTD differences is about 8 mm (about 1.2 mm in PWV). Furthermore, for an inter-technique validation, the real-time ZTD estimated from GLONASS-only, GPS-only, and the GPS/GLONASS combined solutions are compared with those derived from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at colocated GNSS/VLBI stations. The comparison shows that GLONASS can contribute to real-time meteorological applications, with almost the same accuracy as GPS. More accurate and reliable water vapor values, about 1.5–2.3 mm in PWV, can be achieved when GLONASS observations are combined with the GPS ones in the real-time PPP data processing. The comparison with radiosonde data further confirms the performance of GLONASS-derived real-time PWV and the benefit of adding GLONASS to stand-alone GPS processing.     

Geodetic VLBI with an artificial radio source on the Moon: a simulation study

We perform extensive simulations in order to assess the accuracy with which the position of a radio transmitter on the surface of the Moon can be determined by geodetic VLBI. We study how the quality and quantity of geodetic VLBI observations influence these position estimates and investigate how observations of such near-field objects affect classical geodetic parameters like VLBI station coordinates and Earth rotation parameters. Our studies are based on today’s global geodetic VLBI schedules as well as on those designed for the next-generation geodetic VLBI system. We use Monte Carlo simulations including realistic stochastic models of troposphere, station clocks, and observational noise. Our results indicate that it is possible to position a radio transmitter on the Moon using today’s geodetic VLBI with a two-dimensional horizontal accuracy of better than one meter. Moreover, we show that the next-generation geodetic VLBI has the potential to improve the two-dimensional accuracy to better than 5 cm. Thus, our results lay the base for novel observing concepts to improve both lunar research and geodetic VLBI.     

IGS contribution to the ITRF

We examine the contribution of the International GNSS Service (IGS) to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) by evaluating the quality of the incorporated solutions as well as their major role in the ITRF formation. Starting with the ITRF2005, the ITRF is constructed with input data in the form of time series of station positions (weekly for satellite techniques and daily for VLBI) and daily Earth Orientation Parameters. Analysis of time series of station positions is a fundamental first step in the ITRF elaboration, allowing to assess not only the stations behavior, but also the frame parameters and in particular the physical ones, namely the origin and the scale. As it will be seen, given the poor number and distribution of SLR and VLBI co-location sites, the IGS GPS network plays a major role by connecting these two techniques together, given their relevance for the definition of the origin and the scale of the ITRF. Time series analysis of the IGS weekly combined and other individual Analysis Center solutions indicates an internal precision (or repeatability) <2 mm in the horizontal component and <5 mm in the vertical component. Analysis of three AC weekly solutions shows generally poor agreement in origin and scale, with some indication of better agreement when the IGS started to use the absolute model of antenna phase center variations after the GPS week 1400 (November 2006).     

Adding source positions to the IVS combination—First results

The consistent estimation of terrestrial reference frames (TRF), celestial reference frames (CRF) and Earth orientation parameters (EOP) is still an open subject and offers a large field of investigations. Until now, source positions resulting from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations are not routinely combined on the level of normal equations in the same way as it is a common process for station coordinates and EOPs. The combination of source positions based on VLBI observations is now integrated in the IVS combination process. We present the studies carried out to evaluate the benefit of the combination compared to individual solutions. On the level of source time series, improved statistics regarding weighted root mean square have been found for the combination in comparison with the individual contributions. In total, 67 stations and 907 sources (including 291 ICRF2 defining sources) are included in the consistently generated CRF and TRF covering 30 years of VLBI contributions. The rotation angles \(A_1\), \(A_2\) and \(A_3\) relative to ICRF2 are ?12.7, 51.7 and 1.8 \({\upmu }\) as, the drifts \(D_\alpha \) and \(D_\delta \) are ?67.2 and 19.1 \(\upmu \) as/rad and the bias \(B_\delta \) is 26.1 \(\upmu \) as. The comparison of the TRF solution with the IVS routinely combined quarterly TRF solution shows no significant impact on the TRF, when the CRF is estimated consistently with the TRF. The root mean square value of the post-fit station coordinate residuals is 0.9 cm.     

基于GPS观测的Baja California地震地壳变形分析

2010-04-04墨西哥Baja California(32.259°N,115.287°W)Ms 7.2级地震发生在GPS连续观测站及钻孔应变仪相当密集的区域,利用GPS监测数据计算出了若干站点地震前后的位移量。地壳变形分析结果表明,离震中近的观测站变形量普遍较大,最大可达0.2m,大部分观测站明显向东南方向运动。通过选择较稳定的观测站作为参考站,计算了4观测站的动态变形序列,同时得到地震波的传播速度为3.2km/s,与应变观测计算结果比较吻合。     

Multi-technique comparison of tropospheric zenith delays derived during the CONT02 campaign

In October 2002, 15 continuous days of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) data were observed in the Continuous VLBI 2002 (CONT02) campaign. All eight radio telescopes involved in CONT02 were co-located with at least one other space-geodetic technique, and three of them also with a Water Vapor Radiometer (WVR). The goal of this paper is to compare the tropospheric zenith delays observed during CONT02 by VLBI, Global Positioning System (GPS), Doppler Orbitography Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) and WVR and to compare them also with operational pressure level data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). We show that the tropospheric zenith delays from VLBI and GPS are in good agreement at the 3–7 mm level. However, while only small biases can be found for most of the stations, at Kokee Park (Hawaii, USA) and Westford (Massachusetts, USA) the zenith delays derived by GPS are larger by more than 5 mm than those from VLBI. At three of the four DORIS stations, there is also a fairly good agreement with GPS and VLBI (about 10 mm), but at Kokee Park the agreement is only at about 30 mm standard deviation, probably due to the much older installation and type of DORIS equipment. This comparison also allows testing of different DORIS analysis strategies with respect to their real impact on the precision of the derived tropospheric parameters. Ground truth information about the zenith delays can also be obtained from the ECMWF numerical weather model and at three sites using WVR measurements, allowing for comparisons with results from the space-geodetic techniques. While there is a good agreement (with some problems mentioned above about DORIS) among the space-geodetic techniques, the comparison with WVR and ECMWF is at a lower accuracy level. The complete CONT02 data set is sufficient to derive a good estimate of the actual precision and accuracy of each geodetic technique for applications in meteorology.     

Homogeneous reprocessing of GPS,GLONASS and SLR observations

The International GNSS Service (IGS) provides operational products for the GPS and GLONASS constellation. Homogeneously processed time series of parameters from the IGS are only available for GPS. Reprocessed GLONASS series are provided only by individual Analysis Centers (i. e. CODE and ESA), making it difficult to fully include the GLONASS system into a rigorous GNSS analysis. In view of the increasing number of active GLONASS satellites and a steadily growing number of GPS+GLONASS-tracking stations available over the past few years, Technische Universität Dresden, Technische Universität München, Universität Bern and Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich performed a combined reprocessing of GPS and GLONASS observations. Also, SLR observations to GPS and GLONASS are included in this reprocessing effort. Here, we show only SLR results from a GNSS orbit validation. In total, 18 years of data (1994–2011) have been processed from altogether 340 GNSS and 70 SLR stations. The use of GLONASS observations in addition to GPS has no impact on the estimated linear terrestrial reference frame parameters. However, daily station positions show an RMS reduction of 0.3 mm on average for the height component when additional GLONASS observations can be used for the time series determination. Analyzing satellite orbit overlaps, the rigorous combination of GPS and GLONASS neither improves nor degrades the GPS orbit precision. For GLONASS, however, the quality of the microwave-derived GLONASS orbits improves due to the combination. These findings are confirmed using independent SLR observations for a GNSS orbit validation. In comparison to previous studies, mean SLR biases for satellites GPS-35 and GPS-36 could be reduced in magnitude from \(-35\) and \(-38\)  mm to \(-12\) and \(-13\)  mm, respectively. Our results show that remaining SLR biases depend on the satellite type and the use of coated or uncoated retro-reflectors. For Earth rotation parameters, the increasing number of GLONASS satellites and tracking stations over the past few years leads to differences between GPS-only and GPS+GLONASS combined solutions which are most pronounced in the pole rate estimates with maximum 0.2 mas/day in magnitude. At the same time, the difference between GLONASS-only and combined solutions decreases. Derived GNSS orbits are used to estimate combined GPS+GLONASS satellite clocks, with first results presented in this paper. Phase observation residuals from a precise point positioning are at the level of 2 mm and particularly reveal poorly modeled yaw maneuver periods.     

Sub-daily noise in horizontal GPS kinematic time series due to thermal tilt of GPS monuments

The sub-daily noise in horizontal global positioning system (GPS) kinematic time series arising from monument tilts is quantitatively evaluated using tiltmeter data at GPS stations from the Japanese nationwide global navigation satellite system network. The estimated tilt-induced monument displacements show characteristics that are typical of those caused by thermal tilts of the monuments. The root mean square of the displacements is typically a few millimetres, with notable inter-seasonal variations. The stacked amplitude spectra of the monument displacements have peaks at the tidal bands S1 and S2, and their higher tones. The peaks at the S1 and S2 bands in the amplitude spectra are reduced by 41 and 43 % for the north–south component and 36 and 53 % for the east–west component, respectively, after correcting for the monument displacements. The monument displacements due to the thermal tilts of the monuments may also be a favourable candidate for sub-daily noise at the S1 and S2 bands found in other GPS networks.     

Impact of loading displacements on SLR-derived parameters and on the consistency between GNSS and SLR results

Displacements of the Earth’s surface caused by tidal and non-tidal loading forces are relevant in high-precision space geodesy. Some of the corrections are recommended by the international scientific community to be applied at the observation level, e.g., ocean tidal loading (OTL) and atmospheric tidal loading (ATL). Non-tidal displacement corrections are in general recommended not to be applied in the products of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, in particular atmospheric non-tidal loading (ANTL), oceanic and hydrological non-tidal corrections. We assess and compare the impact of OTL, ATL and ANTL on SLR-derived parameters by reprocessing 12 years of SLR data considering and ignoring individual corrections. We show that loading displacements have an influence not only on station long-term stability, but also on geocenter coordinates, Earth Rotation Parameters, and satellite orbits. Applying the loading corrections reduces the amplitudes of annual signals in the time series of geocenter and station coordinates. The general improvement of the SLR station 3D coordinate repeatability when applying OTL, ATL and ANTL corrections are 19.5 %, 0.2 % and 3.3 % respectively, w.r.t. the solutions without loading corrections. ANTL corrections play a crucial role in the combination of optical (SLR) and microwave (GNSS, VLBI, DORIS) space geodetic observation techniques, because of the so-called Blue-Sky effect: SLR measurements can be carried out only under cloudless sky conditions—typically during high air pressure conditions, when the Earth’s crust is deformed, whereas microwave observations are weather-independent. Thus, applying the loading corrections at the observation level improves SLR-derived products as well as the consistency with microwave-based results. We assess the Blue-Sky effect on SLR stations and the consistency improvement between GNSS and SLR solutions when ANTL corrections are included. The omission of ANTL corrections may lead to inconsistencies between SLR and GNSS solutions of up to 2.5 mm for inland stations. As a result, the estimated GNSS–SLR coordinate differences correspond better to the local ties at the co-located stations when applying ANTL corrections.