Past and present ITRF solutions from geophysical perspectives

Abstract

Questions about the accuracy of the origin of the different versions of International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), have been regularly raised. In particular the origin drift between ITRF2000 and ITRF2005 (and subsequent ITRF solutions) is well-known to be problematic. Here, we look forward a sort of geophysical evaluation of ITRF solutions. We investigate GNSS vertical velocities provided by the last four ITRF solutions (ITRF2000 to ITRF2014; Altamimi et al., 2005, 2007, 2011, 2016) that we compare with different Global Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) model predictions. We find that each new ITRF solution appears to be more and more consistent with all GIA predictions, except ITRF2014 whose consistency with the GIA models depends on the date of observation. Indeed, GNSS observations and GIA predictions appear consistent at global scale at a level of ~4 mm/yr using ITRF2000 data, ~2.5–3 mm/yr using ITRF2005 data, and ~2 mm/yr using ITRF2008 data (global weighted root mean squares). For ITRF2014, the consistency between GNSS observations and GIA predictions is extremely high in 2000 (~1.5 mm/yr) but seems then to decrease with time (~2 mm/yr in 2013). This discrepancy is due to the recent ice melting effect that is not accounted for in GIA models, but clearly evidenced by ITRF2014 vertical velocities during the last years of observations, in particular in Greenland.