Updating Thai Reference Frame to ITRF2005 Using GPS: Diversion Between ITRF2000 and 2005 in Southeast Asia

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The Thai geodetic network has been regularly observed with Global Positioning System (GPS) since 1994 through several collaborative EU-ASEAN projects such as GEODYSSEA, SEAMERGES and RTSD-Delft. This geodetic network has long been served as a reference frame for Thailand. Previous realisations of the Thai coordinate reference frame were therefore tied to the global International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) at epochs 1994, 1996 and 2000. After the occurrence of the 9.2 Mw Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on the 26th December 2004, horizontal displacements were evident at different magnitudes in many surrounding countries. The geodetic network within Thailand was also significantly deformed during the earthquake at the centimetre to decimetre level. Large co-seismic horizontal displacements were observed in the southern part of Thailand, while moderate and small displacements were seen in the central and northern parts of Thailand. The Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD) has been carrying out multiple GPS field campaigns to monitor the post-seismic displacements. This paper will analyse the GPS observations obtained from the RTSD GPS campaigns up to the end of 2008 using the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) strategy of the GIPSY-OASIS II software. It has been demonstrated that by employing the state of the art PPP technique, the users could achieve mm-level of repeatability in the horizontal components and centimetre precision in the vertical direction, for a 24-hr data span from a static site occupied by a geodetic-quality receiver. Coordinate results obtained from each campaign are then mapped to ITRF2000 and ITRF2005 using a number of well-determined global International GNSS service (IGS) sites. By comparing coordinate results between ITRF2000 and ITRF2005, it is evident that there is a significant diversion in the north component at a rate of 1.7 mm per year over Southeast Asia region. Finally, ITRF2005 coordinate results obtained from the latest RTSD GPS campaign (November 2008) will be served as a new coordinate reference frame for Thailand.