A comparison of GPS, VLBI and model estimates of ocean tide loading displacements |
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Authors: | Ian D Thomas Matt A King Peter J Clarke |
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Institution: | (1) School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1JU, UK |
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Abstract: | In recent years, ocean tide loading displacements (OTLD) have been measured using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). This study assesses the accuracy of GPS measurements of OTLD by comparison with
VLBI measurements and estimates derived from numerical ocean tide models. A daily precise point positioning (PPP) analysis
was carried out on ∼11 years of GPS data for each of 25 sites that have previous OTLD estimates based on data from co-located
VLBI sites. Ambiguities were fixed to integer values where possible. The resulting daily estimates of OTLD, at eight principal
diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal frequencies, were combined to give GPS measurements of OTLD at each site. The 3D GPS and VLBI
measurements of OTLD were compared with estimates computed (by convolution with Green’s functions) from five modern ocean
tide models (CSR4.0, FES2004, GOT00.2, NAO99b and TPXO6.2). The GPS/model agreement is shown to be similar to the VLBI/model
agreement. In the important radial direction, the GPS/model misfit is shown to be smaller than the VLBI/model misfit for seven
of the eight tidal constituents; the exception being the K2 constituent. Fixing of GPS carrier-phase ambiguities to integer
values resulted in a marginal improvement to the GPS/model agreement. Statistically, it is shown there is no significance
to the difference between the fit of the GPS and VLBI measurements of OTLD to modelled values. Equally, differences in fit
of either the complete set of GPS or VLBI estimates to the five sets of model-derived values cannot be identified with statistical
significance. It is thus concluded that, overall, we cannot distinguish between GPS and VLBI measurements of OTLD, and that
at the global scale, present ocean tide models are accurate to within the current measurement noise of these techniques. |
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Keywords: | GPS Ocean tide loading (OTL) Ocean tide loading displacement (OTLD) VLBI Ocean tide models |
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