Using GPS to Separate Crustal Movements and Sea Level Changes at Tide Gauges in the UK

Abstract

Changes in mean sea level recorded by tide gauges are corrupted by crustal movements, which can be of a similar order of magnitude. A network of permanent, continuous GPS (CGPS) stations has been established in the UK with five stations being sited at tide gauges. Data from these and four other CGPS stations have been analysed. A common mode filtering technique was successfully applied in order to reduce the effect of annually repeating signals on station velocity estimates. The effect of time-dependent correlations in the coordinate time series were accounted for when computing station velocity uncertainties.