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.     

Assessment of second- and third-order ionospheric effects on regional networks: case study in China with longer CMONOC GPS coordinate time series

Higher-order ionospheric (HOI) delays are one of the principal technique-specific error sources in precise global positioning system analysis and have been proposed to become a standard part of precise GPS data processing. In this research, we apply HOI delay corrections to the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China’s (CMONOC) data processing (from January 2000 to December 2013) and furnish quantitative results for the effects of HOI on CMONOC coordinate time series. The results for both a regional reference frame and global reference frame are analyzed and compared to clarify the HOI effects on the CMONOC network. We find that HOI corrections can effectively reduce the semi-annual signals in the northern and vertical components. For sites with lower semi-annual amplitudes, the average decrease in magnitude can reach 30 and 10 % for the northern and vertical components, respectively. The noise amplitudes with HOI corrections and those without HOI corrections are not significantly different. Generally, the HOI effects on CMONOC networks in a global reference frame are less obvious than the results in the regional reference frame, probably because the HOI-induced errors are smaller in comparison to the higher noise levels seen when using a global reference frame. Furthermore, we investigate the combined contributions of environmental loading and HOI effects on the CMONOC stations. The largest loading effects on the vertical displacement are found in the mid- to high-latitude areas. The weighted root mean square differences between the corrected and original weekly GPS height time series of the loading model indicate that the mass loading adequately reduced the scatter on the CMONOC height time series, whereas the results in the global reference frame showed better agreements between the GPS coordinate time series and the environmental loading. When combining the effects of environmental loading and HOI corrections, the results with the HOI corrections reduced the scatter on the observed GPS height coordinates better than the height when estimated without HOI corrections, and the combined solutions in the regional reference frame indicate more preferred improvements. Therefore, regional reference frames are recommended to investigate the HOI effects on regional networks.     

Comparison of GMF/GPT with VMF1/ECMWF and implications for atmospheric loading

This paper compares estimates of station coordinates from global GPS solutions obtained by applying different troposphere models: the Global Mapping Function (GMF) and the Vienna Mapping Function 1 (VMF1) as well as a priori hydrostatic zenith delays derived from the Global Pressure and Temperature (GPT) model and from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) numerical weather model data. The station height differences between terrestrial reference frames computed with GMF/GPT and with VMF1/ECMWF are in general below 1 mm, and the horizontal differences are even smaller. The differences of annual amplitudes in the station height can also reach up to 1 mm. Modeling hydrostatic zenith delays with mean (or slowly varying empirical) pressure values instead of the true pressure values results in a partial compensation of atmospheric loading. Therefore, station height time series based on the simple GPT model have a better repeatability than those based on more realistic ECMWF troposphere a priori delays if atmospheric loading corrections are not included. On the other hand, a priori delays from numerical weather models are essential to reveal the full atmospheric loading signal.     

Nontectonic signals in reprocessed continuous GPS position time series of CMONOC

The nearly nine-year continuous GPS data collected since 1 March 1999 from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China (CMONOC) were consistently analyzed. Most of the nonlinear movements in the cumulative position time series produced by CMONOC data center disappeared; and more accurate vertical terms and tectonic signals were extracted. Displacements caused by atmospheric pressure loading, nontidal ocean loading, soil moisture mass loading, and snow cover mass loading using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis I/II models and Estimation of the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) data can explain most of the vertical annual terms at many stations, while only parts can be explained at Lhasa and southern coastal sites, indicating that there are some deformation mechanisms that are still unknown or not modeled accurately. The remarkable differences in vertical position time series for short-baseline sites reveal that GPS stations can be greatly affected by local factors; and attention should be paid when explaining observed GPS velocity vectors.     

Nontectonic signals in reprocessed continuous GPS position time series of CMONOC

The nearly nine-year continuous GPS data collected since 1 March 1999 from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China(CMONOC) were consistently analyzed.Most of the nonlinear movements in the cumulative position time series pro-duced by CMONOC data center disappeared;and more accurate vertical terms and tectonic signals were extracted.Displacements caused by atmospheric pressure loading,nontidal ocean loading,soil moisture mass loading,and snow cover mass loading using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) Reanalysis I/II models and Estimation of the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean(ECCO) data can explain most of the vertical annual terms at many stations,while only parts can be explained at Lhasa and southern coastal sites,indicating that there are some deformation mechanisms that are still unknown or not modeled accurately.The remarkable differences in vertical position time series for short-baseline sites reveal that GPS stations can be greatly affected by lo-cal factors;and attention should be paid when explaining observed GPS velocity vectors.     

Non-linear motions of Australian geodetic stations induced by non-tidal ocean loading and the passage of tropical cyclones

We investigate daily and sub-daily non-tidal oceanic and atmospheric loading (NTOAL) in the Australian region and put an upper bound on potential site motion examining the effects of tropical cyclone Yasi that crossed the Australian coast in January/February 2011. The dynamic nature of the ocean is important, particularly for northern Australia where the long-term scatter due to daily and sub-daily oceanic changes increases by 20–55 % compared to that estimated using the inverted barometer (IB) assumption. Correcting the daily Global Positioning System (GPS) time series for NTOAL employing either a dynamic ocean model or the IB assumption leads to a reduction of up to 52 % in the weighted scatter of daily coordinate estimates. Differences between the approaches are obscured by seasonal variations in the GPS precision along the northern coast. Two compensating signals during the cyclone require modelling at high spatial and temporal resolution: uplift induced by the atmospheric depression, and subsidence induced by storm surge. The latter dominates ( \(>\) 135 %) the combined net effect that reaches a maximum of 14 mm, and 10 mm near the closest GPS site TOW2. Here, 96 % of the displacement is reached within 15 h due to the rapid transit of cyclones and the quasi-linear nature of the coastline. Consequently, estimating sub-daily NTOAL is necessary to properly account for such a signal that can be 3.5 times larger than its daily-averaged value. We were unable to detect the deformation signal in 2-hourly GPS processing and show that seasonal noise in the Austral summer dominates and precludes GPS detection of the cyclone-related subsidence.     

Using GPS for monitoring tall-building response to wind loading: filtering of abrupt changes and low-frequency noise,variography and spectral analysis of displacements

We compare two methods for monitoring the dynamic response of tall buildings to wind loading, using data from a 280-m-high building in Singapore. The first method is based on accelerometer measurements. The second method is based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The GPS can in principle detect absolute displacements with lower frequencies than the accelerometers, but the GPS positioning signal is usually very noisy. We propose a systematic procedure for modeling the stochastic and systematic components of the GPS displacement time series and for extracting the weak structural response from the dominant noise. The spectrum of the building response obtained from the filtered GPS data exhibits a dominant peak at 0.19 Hz. The frequency of the peak coincides with that obtained from the analysis of the accelerometer data. The proposed analysis of the GPS signal provides a method for cross-validating the GPS and accelerometer measurements, and shows that “educated” filtering of the GPS signal can reveal essential features of the building’s response to wind loading.     

Assessment of ECMWF-derived tropospheric delay models within the EUREF Permanent Network

The Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) are routinely analyzed by the EPN analysis centers using a tropospheric delay modeling based on standard pressure values, the Niell Mapping Functions (NMF), a cutoff angle of 3° and down-weighting of low elevation observations. We investigate the impact on EPN station heights and Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) estimates when changing to improved models recommended in the updated 2003 International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) Conventions, which are the Vienna Mapping Functions 1 (VMF1) and zenith hydrostatic delays derived from numerical weather models, or the empirical Global Mapping Functions (GMF) and the empirical Global Pressure and Temperature (GPT) model. A 1-year Global Positioning System (GPS) data set of 50 regionally distributed EPN/IGS (International GNSS Service) stations is processed. The GPS analysis with cutoff elevation angles of 3, 5, and 10° revealed that changing to the new recommended models introduces biases in station heights in the northern part of Europe by 2–3 mm if the cutoff is lower than 5°. However, since large weather changes at synoptic time scales are not accounted for in the empirical models, repeatability of height and ZTD time series are improved with the use of a priori Zenith Hydrostatic Delays (ZHDs) derived from numerical weather models and VMF1. With a cutoff angle of 3°, the repeatability of station heights in the northern part of Europe is improved by 3–4 mm.     

利用ICA方法提取奥卡万戈三角洲水储量变化信号

利用重力恢复与气候实验(gravity recovery and climate experiment, GRACE)时变地球重力场模型计算得到非洲奥卡万戈三角洲地区2003-01—2014-12的陆地水储量变化信息,分别采用主成分分析(principal component analysis, PCA)和独立成分分析(independent component analysis, ICA)提取质量变化信号,并与全球陆地数据同化系统(global land data assimilation system, GLDAS)的水文模型进行对比。结果显示,在奥卡万戈河流域东北部,水储量表现出很强的周期性变化,两种数据空间特征分布的信号出现在相同位置的成分GRACE-IC1和GLDAS-IC1对应的时间序列的相关系数达到0.85。奥卡万戈三角洲地区水储量从2003-01—2011-10呈现上升趋势,两种数据空间特征分布的信号出现在相同位置的成分GRACE-IC2和GLDAS-IC3对应的时间序列的相关系数达到0.81,说明GRACE反演结果与GLDAS水文模型反演结果在研究区域内具有很强的一致性。引入全球降水气候中心降水数据和Water GAP全球水文模型数据对研究区域陆地水储量变化的原因进行分析。实验结果表明,相对于传统的多项式拟合方法,ICA可以在较大区域内直接对特定位置质量变化信号的时空特征进行提取;对比GRACE数据两种方法分解结果的第3成分可以看出,在空间尺度和时间尺度上,ICA方法对信号的分解能力要优于主成分分析方法。     

Annual deformation signals from homogeneously reprocessed VLBI and GPS height time series

The first part of this paper compares homogeneously reprocessed Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and Global Positioning System (GPS) long-term height series from 1994 to 2007. The data analysis used fully adapted state-of-the-art models (like VMF1 and a priori zenith delays from ECMWF) for the GPS and VLBI processing. The series are compared in terms of long-term non-linear behaviour, harmonic and mean annual signals (not necessarily of harmonic nature). The similarity between both techniques is very good (especially the mean annual signals), which is assumed to be due to the adapted models and consistent reprocessing of both series. As two almost independent observing techniques see the same annually recurring signals at almost all co-located sites, we expect a good geophysical interpretability as integral vertical deformation. For the second part of this paper, the height time series of 161 suitable GPS sites (of the same solution as before) are used to determine a harmonic and a mean annual signal for each of them. Comparing the annual signals for this big dataset visually to GRACE-determined load deformations described in other publications, we find good agreement. This puts emphasis to the assumption that our height data have a lot of potential to be interpreted as geophysical signals. Out of these 161, 131 are grouped to 55 clusters, if at least two nearby (some thousand kilometres) sites show similar mean annual signals, which are thus confirmed to be real regional deformation, not local or technical artefacts. These 55 signals are presented on a “world map” of regional average mean annual height signals, as easy-to-handle tool to validate geophysical models. The data of these measured regional mean annual signals can be downloaded from a web-page for numerical analysis.     

Analysis of Interpolation Methods for Kinematic DGPS Control in Aerial Photogrammetry

Kinematic differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) positioning is routinely used in industry for directly observing an aircraft's position at each instant of photographic exposure during a photogammetric survey. A critical aspect of the subsequent data processing is estimation of the aircraft position at the exact time of exposure. GPS measurements are acquired at a uniform sampling rate, typically 1 Hz. The exposure times, however, do not generally coincide with these times. As a result, the exposure station positions must be interpolated from the adjacent GPS positions. This is typically done using a low-order polynomial, expressed as a function of time, for each coordinate dimension. However, trajectory perturbations induced by atmospheric turbulence can render such interpolation methods ineffective. This article will convey the results of an investigation into the use of several different interpolation models with airborne GPS data during straight, level flight. The fundamental task of time series reconstruction will first be addressed, in which several possible interpolation models are described. Two 10-Hz, airborne GPS data sets were collected to test the accuracy of each model. The error properties resulting from the application of each model to these data will be presented and analyzed in terms of time-domain statistics and frequency-domain characteristids. It will be demonstrated that interpolation error can be significantly reduced, especially in the height dimension, through judicious choice of an interpolator. ? 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

MODIS水汽反演用于InSAR大气校正的理论研究

大气效应尤其是大气水汽的影响是InSAR干涉测量中主要的误差源和限制因素之一,因此高精度的InSAR应用迫切需要及时掌握大气水汽含量及其时空变化。本文深入分析了利用MODIS的水汽反演结果进行InSAR干涉测量大气校正的可行性,对MODIS近红外水汽反演结果与地基GPS水汽探测结果进行了比较和分析。同时根据GPS解算结果,利用实例讨论了基于地面气象参数的水汽延迟模拟的效果。     

环境负载对区域GPS基准站时间序列的影响分析

基于1999-2011年中国地壳运动观测网络(CMONOC)及2007-2012年武汉市连续运行卫星定位服务系统(WHCORS)的观测数据,联合中国及周边35个IGS基准站数据,采用GAMIT软件解算,获得了ITRF2008框架下的GPS基准站坐标时间序列.然后采用QOCA计算了环境负载位移,并利用其对GPS时间序列进行改正.研究结果表明环境负载造成的中国区域基准站位移呈现显著的区域性特征,东北、华北、华中区域变化较为一致且较大,西南区域基准站(KUNM)垂直方向的负载位移均方根(RMS)最大值达6.09 mm.通过对改正前后的数据进行时间序列分析,认为环境负载改正能够削弱中国区域大多数GPS基准站(约70%)垂直及水平东方向位移时间序列的非线性变化,其加权均方根(WRMS)减小量最大达1.5 mm,但是对于水平北方向坐标时间序列的改善作用不明显.     

利用GPS垂直位移反演云南省陆地水储量变化

地表质量的重分布会引起固体地球的弹性形变,GPS连续运行观测站能够精确测定地表负荷引起的地壳形变。本文通过模拟数据对利用云南省及其周边47个中国大陆构造环境监测网（陆态网）台站反演云南地区陆地水储量的可行性进行分析：以水文模型周年振幅为真值,计算47个台站点的负荷形变,同时加入随机误差构成模拟观测数据,最后采用模型反演陆地水储量变化;1000次的随机模拟试验表明利用当前GPS台站数据可有效地反演云南地区陆地水储量变化。基于上述结论,笔者反演了云南省2010—2014年陆地水储量变化,GPS反演结果表明：云南省陆地水变化呈现明显的地域分布特征,西南部高山地区的水储量周年变化高于东部平原地区;在时间尺度上,云南省大部分地区水储量在10月（夏季末）达到最大值,在4月（冬季末）达到最小值;云南省2010—2014年陆地水呈缓慢增长趋势,约为20 mm/a。通过GPS陆地水储量反演结果与GRACE、GLDAS以及TRMM数据综合对比分析,表明利用云南地区当前GPS台站可以作为独立观测量用于GRACE与GRACE Follow-on衔接期间的陆地水储量变化监测。     

利用ARMA模型改进GPS高程时间序列的研究

ARMA可用于时间序列建模,本文利用ARMA模型改进了部分IGS连续跟踪站GPS高程时间序列。计算了改进前后时间序列的线性速度,可以发现时间序列线性速度变化不明显,但精度却提高很多。通过研究表明利用ARMA模型有利于降低GPS高程时间序列噪声,可用于GPS高程时间序列的分析和研究。     

Numerical simulation of troposphere-induced errors in GPS-derived geodetic time series over Japan

Troposphere-induced errors in GPS-derived geodetic time series, namely, height and zenith total delays (ZTDs), over Japan are quantitatively evaluated through the analyses of simulated GPS data using realistic cumulative tropospheric delays and observed GPS data. The numerical simulations show that the use of a priori zenith hydrostatic delays (ZHDs) derived from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) numerical weather model data and gridded Vienna mapping function 1 (gridded VMF1) results in smaller spurious annual height errors and height repeatabilities (0.45 and 2.55 mm on average, respectively) as compared to those derived from the global pressure and temperature (GPT) model and global mapping function (GMF) (1.08 and 3.22 mm on average, respectively). On the other hand, the use of a priori ZHDs derived from the GPT and GMF would be sufficient for applications involving ZTDs, given the current discrepancies between GPS-derived ZTDs and those derived from numerical weather models. The numerical simulations reveal that the use of mapping functions constructed with fine-scale numerical weather models will potentially improve height repeatabilities as compared to the gridded VMF1 (2.09 mm against 2.55 mm on average). However, they do not presently outperform the gridded VMF1 with the observed GPS data (6.52 mm against 6.50 mm on average). Finally, the commonly observed colored components in GPS-derived height time series are not primarily the result of troposphere-induced errors, since they become white in numerical simulations with the proper choice of a priori ZHDs and mapping functions.     

Assessment of ZTD derived from ECMWF/NCEP data with GPS ZTD over China

The accuracy and feasibility of computing the zenith tropospheric delays (ZTDs) from data of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) are studied. The ZTDs are calculated from ECMWF/NCEP pressure-level data by integration and from the surface data with the Saastamoinen model method and then compared with the solutions measured from 28 global positioning system (GPS) stations of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) for 1 year. The results are as follows: (1) the error of the integration method is 1–3 cm less than that of the Saastamoinen model method. The agreement between the ECMWF ZTD and GPS ZTD is better than that between NCEP ZTD and GPS ZTD; (2) the bias and root mean square difference (RMSD), especially the latter, have a seasonal variation, and the RMSD decreases with increasing altitude while the variation with latitude is not obvious; and (3) when using the full horizontal resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° of the ECMWF meteorological data in place of a reduced 2.5° × 2.5° grid, the mean RMSD between GPS and ECMWF ZTD decreases by 4.5 mm. These results illuminated the accuracy and feasibility of computing the tropospheric delays and establishing the ZTD prediction model over China for navigation and positioning with ECMWF and NCEP data.     

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...     

Adaptive wavelet transform based on cross-validation method and its application to GPS multipath mitigation

Global positioning system (GPS) multipath disturbance is a bottleneck problem that limits the accuracy of precise GPS positioning applications. A method based on the technique of cross-validation for automatically identifying wavelet signal layers is developed and used for separating noise from signals in data series, and applied to mitigate GPS multipath effects. Experiments with both simulated data series and real GPS observations show that the method is a powerful signal decomposer, which can successfully separate noise from signals as long as the noise level is lower than about half of the magnitude of the signals. A multipath correction model is derived based on the proposed method and the sidereal day-to-day repeating property of GPS multipath signals to remove multipath effects on GPS observations and to improve the quality of the GPS measurements.     

Strategies to mitigate aliasing of loading signals while estimating GPS frame parameters

Although GNSS techniques are theoretically sensitive to the Earth center of mass, it is often preferable to remove intrinsic origin and scale information from the estimated station positions since they are known to be affected by systematic errors. This is usually done by estimating the parameters of a linearized similarity transformation which relates the quasi-instantaneous frames to a long-term frame such as the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). It is well known that non-linear station motions can partially alias into these parameters. We discuss in this paper some procedures that may allow reducing these aliasing effects in the case of the GPS techniques. The options include the use of well-distributed sub-networks for the frame transformation estimation, the use of site loading corrections, a modification of the stochastic model by downweighting heights, or the joint estimation of the low degrees of the deformation field. We confirm that the standard approach consisting of estimating the transformation over the whole network is particularly harmful for the loading signals if the network is not well distributed. Downweighting the height component, using a uniform sub-network, or estimating the deformation field perform similarly in drastically reducing the amplitude of the aliasing effect. The application of these methods to reprocessed GPS terrestrial frames permits an assessment of the level of agreement between GPS and our loading model, which is found to be about 1.5 mm WRMS in height and 0.8 mm WRMS in the horizontal at the annual frequency. Aliased loading signals are not the main source of discrepancies between loading displacement models and GPS position time series.