Appraisal of the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987 based on backward-transformed ITRF coordinates using a national velocity model

Abstract

The paper presents a detailed accuracy evaluation of the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987 (HGRS87), a non-geocentric traditional local datum which was established thirty years ago and it is still used as the official coordinate system for surveying applications in Greece. This is the first time that a large-scale assessment of HGRS87 is performed, which aims to reveal its weakness by quantifying its consistency with a higher quality ITRF/GNSS-based frame over the entire country. A geodetic velocity model is employed in our analysis in an attempt to eliminate the accumulated geodynamical distortions of the (static) HGRS87 coordinates, and thus to provide a more judicious comparison between the underlying frames at a common epoch. Our results show that, even after removing the geodynamical distortions, the average accuracy of HGRS87 at national scale remains worse than 45 cm, yet significant variations exist in its regional accuracy level over different parts of Greece.