A study on the combination of satellite, airborne, and terrestrial gravity data

Satellite gravity missions, such as CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE, and airborne gravity campaigns in areas without ground gravity will enhance the present knowledge of the Earths gravity field. Combining the new gravity information with the existing marine and ground gravity anomalies is a major task for which the mathematical tools have to be developed. In one way or another they will be based on the spectral information available for gravity data and noise. The integration of the additional gravity information from satellite and airborne campaigns with existing data has not been studied in sufficient detail and a number of open questions remain. A strategy for the combination of satellite, airborne and ground measurements is presented. It is based on ideas independently introduced by Sjöberg and Wenzel in the early 1980s and has been modified by using a quasi-deterministic approach for the determination of the weighting functions. In addition, the original approach of Sjöberg and Wenzel is extended to more than two measurement types, combining the Meissl scheme with the least-squares spectral combination. Satellite (or geopotential) harmonics, ground gravity anomalies and airborne gravity disturbances are used as measurement types, but other combinations are possible. Different error characteristics and measurement-type combinations and their impact on the final solution are studied. Using simulated data, the results show a geoid accuracy in the centimeter range for a local test area.     

Recent advances in accessibility research: Representation,methodology and applications

 In this article we examine recent advances in accessibility research and their implications for future studies. We base our discussion on three intersecting dimensions that are useful for evaluating the contribution of recent studies: representation, methodology and applications. Various examples are selected to show that research concerned with representation and methodological problem solving is often applied to issues of broad concern in policy and planning. It is, however, not clear that the simultaneous treatment of representation, methodological and application issues has ever been fully worked out. The questions raised in this article may serve as a foundation for addressing issues pertinent to accurate representation, improved model building, and more rigorous applications in accessibility research. Received: 9 December 2002 / Accepted: 10 February 2003     

PLL Tracking Performance in the Presence of Oscillator Phase Noise

The tracking performance of a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) is affected by the influence of several error sources. In addition to thermal noise and dynamic stress error, oscillator phase noise can cause significant phase jitter which degrades the tracking performance. Oscillator phase noise is usually caused by two different effects: Allan deviation phase noise is caused by frequency instabilities of the receiver's reference oscillator and the satellite's frequency standard. It can be termed as system-inherent phase noise and is relevant for both static and dynamic applications. “External” phase noise, however, is caused by vibration and is a major problem for dynamic applications. In the context of this paper, both types of phase noise will be modeled and the resulting integrals will be evaluated for PLLs up to the third order. Besides, phase jitter induced by thermal noise and signal dynamics will also be discussed, thus providing all necessary formulas for analyzing the performance of a phase lock loop in case of different forms of stress. Since the main focus is centered on the effects of oscillator phase noise, the overall PLL performance is graphically illustrated with and without consideration of oscillator phase noise. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Evaluation of pre-CHAMP gravity models `GRIM5-S1' and `GRIM5-C1' with satellite crossover altimetry

 The new GFZ/GRGS gravity field models GRIM5-S1 and GRIM5-C1, currently used as initial models for the CHAMP mission, have been compared with other recent models (JGM 3, EGM 96) for radial orbit accuracy (by means of latitude lumped coefficients) in computations on altimetry satellite orbits. The bases for accuracy judgements are multi-year averages of crossover sea height differences from Geosat and ERS 1/2 missions. This radially sensitive data is fully independent of the data used to develop these gravity models. There is good agreement between the observed differences in all of the world's oceans and projections of the same errors from the scaled covariance matrix of their harmonic geopotential coefficients. It was found that the tentative scale factor of five for the formal standard deviations of the harmonic coefficients of the new GRIM fields is justified, i.e. the accuracy estimates, provided together with the GRIM geopotential coefficients, are realistic. Received: 20 February 2001 / Accepted: 24 October 2001     

GPS network monitors the Western Alps' deformation over a five-year period: 1993–1998

  The Western Alps are among the best studied collisional belts with both detailed structural mapping and also crustal geophysical investigations such as the ECORS and EGT seismic profile. By contrast, the present-day kinematics of the belt is still largely unknown due to small relative motions and the insufficient accuracy of the triangulation data. As a consequence, several tectonic problems still remain to be solved, such as the amount of N–S convergence in the Occidental Alps, the repartition of the deformation between the Alpine tectonic units, and the relation between deformation and rotation across the Alpine arc. In order to address these problems, the GPS ALPES group, made up of French, Swiss and Italian research organizations, has achieved the first large-scale GPS surveys of the Western Alps. More than 60 sites were surveyed in 1993 and 1998 with a minimum observation of 3 days at each site. GPS data processing has been done by three independent teams using different software. The different solutions have horizontal repeatabilities (N–E) of 4–7 mm in 1993 and 2–3 mm in 1998 and compare at the 3–5-mm level in position and 2-mm/yr level in velocity. A comparison of 1993 and 1998 coordinates shows that residual velocities of the GPS marks are generally smaller than 2 mm/yr, precluding a detailed tectonic interpretation of the differential motions. However, these data seem to suggest that the N–S compression of the Western Alps is quite mild (less than 2 mm/yr) compared to the global convergence between the African and Eurasian plate (6 mm/yr). This implies that the shortening must be accomodated elsewhere by the deformation of the Maghrebids and/or by rotations of Mediterranean microplates. Also, E–W velocity components analysis supports the idea that E–W extension exists, as already suggested by recent structural and seismotectonic data interpretation. Received: 27 November 2000 / Accepted: 17 September 2001     

Integration and Sharing of Geo-spatial Data Based on Data Engine

Through analyzing the principle of data sharing in the database system, this paper discusses the principle and method for integrating and sharing GIS data by data engine, introduces a way to achieve the high integration and sharing of GIS data on the basis of VCT in VC , and provides the method for uniting VCT into RDBMS in order to implement a spatial database with object-oriented data model.     

Reducing the draconitic errors in GNSS geodetic products

Systematic errors at harmonics of the GPS draconitic year have been found in diverse GPS-derived geodetic products like the geocenter $Z$ -component, station coordinates, $Y$ -pole rate and orbits (i.e. orbit overlaps). The GPS draconitic year is the repeat period of the GPS constellation w.r.t. the Sun which is about 351 days. Different error sources have been proposed which could generate these spurious signals at the draconitic harmonics. In this study, we focus on one of these error sources, namely the radiation pressure orbit modeling deficiencies. For this purpose, three GPS+GLONASS solutions of 8 years (2004–2011) were computed which differ only in the solar radiation pressure (SRP) and satellite attitude models. The models employed in the solutions are: (1) the CODE (5-parameter) radiation pressure model widely used within the International GNSS Service community, (2) the adjustable box-wing model for SRP impacting GPS (and GLONASS) satellites, and (3) the adjustable box-wing model upgraded to use non-nominal yaw attitude, specially for satellites in eclipse seasons. When comparing the first solution with the third one we achieved the following in the GNSS geodetic products. Orbits: the draconitic errors in the orbit overlaps are reduced for the GPS satellites in all the harmonics on average 46, 38 and 57 % for the radial, along-track and cross-track components, while for GLONASS satellites they are mainly reduced in the cross-track component by 39 %. Geocenter $Z$ -component: all the odd draconitic harmonics found when the CODE model is used show a very important reduction (almost disappearing with a 92 % average reduction) with the new radiation pressure models. Earth orientation parameters: the draconitic errors are reduced for the $X$ -pole rate and especially for the $Y$ -pole rate by 24 and 50 % respectively. Station coordinates: all the draconitic harmonics (except the 2nd harmonic in the North component) are reduced in the North, East and Height components, with average reductions of 41, 39 and 35 % respectively. This shows, that part of the draconitic errors currently found in GNSS geodetic products are definitely induced by the CODE radiation pressure orbit modeling deficiencies.     

The effects of frequency-dependent quasar variability on the celestial reference frame

We examine the relationship between source position stability and astrophysical properties of radio-loud quasars making up the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF2). Understanding this relationship is important for improving quasar selection and analysis strategies, and therefore reference frame stability. We construct flux density time series, known as light curves, for 95 of the most frequently observed ICRF2 quasars at both the 2.3 and 8.4 GHz geodetic very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observing bands. Because the appearance of new quasar components corresponds to an increase in quasar flux density, these light curves alert us about potential changes in source structure before they appear in VLBI images. We test how source position stability depends on three astrophysical parameters: (1) flux density variability at X band; (2) time lag between flares in S and X bands; (3) spectral index root-mean-square (rms), defined as the variability in the ratio between S and X band flux densities. We find that the time lag between S and X band light curves provides a good indicator of position stability: sources with time lags $<$ 0.06 years are significantly more stable ( $>$ 20 % improvement in weighted rms) than sources with larger time lags. A similar improvement is obtained by observing sources with low $(<$ 0.12) spectral index variability. On the other hand, there is no strong dependence of source position stability on flux density variability in a single frequency band. These findings can be understood by interpreting the time lag between S and X band light curves as a measure of the size of the source structure. Monitoring of source flux density at multiple frequencies therefore appears to provide a useful probe of quasar structure on scales important to geodesy. The observed astrometric position of the brightest quasar component (the core) is known to depend on observing frequency. We show how multi-frequency flux density monitoring may allow the dependence on frequency of the relative core positions along the jet to be elucidated. Knowledge of the position–frequency relation has important implications for current and future geodetic VLBI programs, as well as the alignment between the radio and optical celestial reference frames.     

Scrutinising MODIS and GIMMS Vegetation Indices for Extracting Growth Rhythm of Natural Vegetation in India

Satellite derived vegetation vigour has been successfully used for various environmental modeling since 1972. However, extraction of reliable annual growth information about natural vegetation (i.e., phenology) has been of recent interest due to their important role in many global models and free availability of time-series satellite data. In this study, usability of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) and Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) based products in extracting phenology information about evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous and dry deciduous vegetation in India was explored. The MODIS NDVI and EVI time-series data (MOD13C1: 5.6 km spatial resolution with 16 day temporal resolution—2001 to 2010) and GIMMS NDVI time-series data(8 km spatial resolution with 15 day temporal resolution—2000 to 2006) were used. These three differently derived vegetation indices were analysed to extract and understand the vegetative growth rhythm over different regions of India. Algorithm was developed to derive onset of greenness and end of senescence automatically. The comparative analysis about differences in the results from these products was carried out. Due to dominant noise in the values of NDVI from GIMMS and MODIS during monsoon period the phenology rhythm were wrongly depicted, especially for evergreen and semi-evergreen vegetation in India. Hence, care is needed before using these data sets for understanding vegetative dynamics, biomass cestimation and carbon studies. MODIS EVI based results were truthful and comparable to ground reality. The study reveals spatio-temporal patterns of phenology, rate of greening, rate of senescence, and differences in results from these three products.