On the determination of a new combined EGM2008 based quasi-geoid model for Hungary

Abstract

A new quasi-geoid model for Hungary was determined by combining gravity data, GPS/levelling and vertical deflections. Reduction of the measurements was performed by using Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008) and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) elevation data sets. Calculation method was Least Squares Collocation (LSC) with self-consistent planar logarithmic covariance model. In the computations the weights of GPS/levelling data were large, in this way normal heights obtained from levelling are consistent with GPS heights and with the quasi-geoid model. Astrogeodetic-gravimetric, pure astrogeodetic and pure gravimetric solutions have been calculated besides the combined solution to investigate the discrepancies among the different models. The combined quasi-geoid model fits to the GPS/levelling data with standard deviation of ±4.9 cm, nevertheless at some GPS/levelling sites large differences were indicated.