Modern Geodetic Techniques Research Articles

Moving mountains: reevaluating the elevations of Colorado mountain summits using modern geodetic techniques

One of the most challenging environments for accurate geoid models is in high, rugged mountain areas. Orthometric heights derived from GNSS and a geoid model can easily have errors at the decimeter level. To investigate the effect of geoid model variability on the elevations of peaks in high, rugged mountain areas, this paper is focused on the “Fourteeners” of Colorado, USA (a group of about 60 peaks that are above 14,000 feet = 4267.2 m). Airborne LiDAR data are used to determine geometric (ellipsoidal) heights, which first requires removing a hybrid geoid model, as the LiDAR data is originally provided as orthometric heights. We quantify a significant improvement when using these derived ellipsoidal heights compared with the original orthometric heights: from ± 0.074 to ± 0.054 m (RMSE), an improvement of 28%. Next, a mean geoid model is determined with a relative accuracy of ± 0.06 to 0.08 m and used as a “stand in” realization of the future, official geopotential datum of the USA, NAPGD2022. Using the LiDAR ellipsoidal heights and geoid model, elevations (and uncertainties) for each of the Fourteener summits are determined and found to be, on average, 1.6 m lower than currently published values. This is a much larger change than the 0.5 m decrease expected from the new datum shift alone. The bulk of the difference is due to the original treatments of the vertical angle, triangulation data. A reanalysis of 32 of the 60 peaks shows that the historic data were indeed too high by about 1.0 m or more. Ultimately, no peak falls below the 14,000-foot level nor are any peaks elevated above this level.

Distribution of Active Faults and Lithospheric Discontinuities in the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogenic Zone Identified by Multiscale Gravity Analysis

The lithospheric structure of the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent area is a hot topic in geodynamic research. It is important to reveal the mechanism of crustal deformation and tectonic evolution of the study area. In this study, the techniques of wavelet multiscale decomposition and field edge detection were used to study the discontinuities of the lithosphere revealed by multilevel Bouguer gravity anomalies. Specifically, we evaluated the depth characteristics of the major active faults in the study area and identified 15 deep major faults that cut through the lithosphere. They are Chaman fault, Shyok suture zone, Altyn-Tagh fault, Karakash fault, Karakoram fault, Talas-Fergana fault, Kashgarr-Yeshgar transfer system, Rushan-Pshart suture zone, Sangri-Nacuo fault, Main Frontal thrust, Burmese fold belt, Yadong-Gulu fault, Gaoligong fault, Sagaing fault and Nujiang fault. We have also elucidated the tectonic mechanisms of two famous geodynamic phenomena in the Pamir Plateau. The first is the intense intermediate depth seismicity beneath Pamir-Hindukush. It cannot simply be described as the rupture of a subducted residual plate, which could be divided into two distinct tectonic units. One belongs to the Indian plate, the other to the Eurasian plate. Secondly, the mechanism of intense seismicity confined to the western upper crust of the Pamir Plateau could be explained as significant fragmentation of crustal material. Finally, and most importantly, we summarized the coupling mechanism between deep geodynamics and horizontal deformation as observed by modern geodetic techniques. In the upper mantle, the leading edge of the subducting Indian plate reached the SW boundary of Tarim basin and forms a closed structure in western Himalaya. Then, the Tibetan Plateau underwent a tectonic escape towards the east under the continuous compression between the Indian and Eurasian plates. During the process of tectonic escape, the role of the N–S direction normal faults in the Himalayan tectonic zone is limited.

Triangulation network of 1929–1944 of the first 1:500 urban map of València

Triangulation is a surveying method on which earlier maps made were based. Although the origins of the method can be traced back to the 16th century, it is still used today, with minor changes, to adjust networks observed with modern geodetic techniques. In this paper we present the geodetic survey work that was carried out for the primary triangulation network of the first 1:500 urban map of the city of València (Spain). It spanned from 1929 to 1944 and resulted in 421 maps covering about 174 square kilometres. We focus on four key elements to define the geometric framework of a map: (1) the geodetic network, (2) the cartographic projection, (3) the baseline measurements, and (4) the primary triangulation. The paper is based on the interpretation of original documents and field books recovered from the archives of the València City Council. In order to check the accuracy and consistency of the survey work, we recomputed all calculations directly from the field data, following the mathematical procedures of the time. We obtained a set of transformation parameters to convert the coordinates of 1929 to current coordinates based on the European Terrestrial Reference System of 1989 (ETRS89). Results showed that the 1929 primary triangulation angles and coordinates are accurate to 8 s of arc and 35 cm respectively, and that the coordinates transform well into the current reference system with average residuals of 26 cm across nine control points, demonstrating the high quality of the 1929 work.

Modern geodetic techniques in the monitoring of historic buildings

Historic buildings constitute a valuable cultural heritage, and at the same time due to the passage of time, they are exposed to a number of adverse factors. In order to preserve them in a non-deteriorated condition, it is necessary to provide comprehensive control of technical condition for these historic buildings, including regular geodetic measurements. This works includes a brief characterisation of the modern measurement techniques, as well as the presentation of possibilities of using the selected techniques for two historic buildings. The first one is the XIII-century cathedral, for which a network for testing vertical displacements was established and an initial measurement was performed. Moreover, a horizontal geodetic control network was implemented, intended for inventory works and the results of measurements were developed, combining angular-linear observations with GNSS vectors. The second building is the XX-century water tower, for which detailed architectural documentation of external walls was prepared on the basis of terrestrial laser scanning. The performed works confirm the need for geodetic monitoring of historic buildings and confirm the effectiveness of used measurement techniques.

Application of Geodetic Techniques for Antenna Positioning in a Ground Penetrating Radar Method

The accuracy of determining the location of detectable subsurface objects is related to the accuracy of the position of georadar traces in a given profile, which in turn depends on the precise assessment of the distance covered by an antenna. During georadar measurements the distance covered by an antenna can be determined with a variety of methods. Recording traces at fixed time intervals is the simplest of them. A method which allows for more precise location of georadar traces is recording them at fixed distance intervals, which can be performed with the use of distance triggers (such as a measuring wheel or a hip chain). The search for methods eliminating these discrepancies can be based on the measurement of spatial coordinates of georadar traces conducted with the use of modern geodetic techniques for 3-D location. These techniques include above all a GNSS satellite system and electronic tachymeters. Application of the above mentioned methods increases the accuracy of space location of georadar traces. The article presents the results of georadar measurements performed with the use of geodetic techniques in the test area of Mydlniki in Krakow. A satellite receiver Leica system 1200 and a electronic tachymeter Leica 1102 TCRA were integrated with the georadar equipment. The accuracy of locating chosen subsurface structures was compared.

Improved Geoid Modeling Using Observed and Modeled Gravity Gradients in Taiwan

The authors present a new geoid modeling procedure that can greatly improve relative geoid accuracy in mountainous areas, leading to improved applications for modern geodetic techniques, such as light detection and ranging (LIDAR), in mapping orthometric heights over steep terrain on which precise slopes are needed to assess the risk of landslides and the suitability of industrial development. The new procedure (1) measures gravity gradients or computing modeled gravity gradients from a regular grid of gravity anomalies, (2) uses these gradients to refine gravity anomalies, and (3) uses the gravity anomalies to compute geoidal undulations. This new procedure was tested in Taiwan. In situ gravity gradients were measured at approximately 4,000 gravity sites to compare the modeled gravity gradients. In the test, ground gravity observations are reduced to gravity anomalies at mean sea surface using three types of gravity gradients: normal, modeled, and observed. The researchers’ geoid modeling uses the method of least-squares collocation (LSC) with the remove-compute-restore (RCR) procedure. Free-air gravity anomalies, as reduced using the observed and modeled gravity gradients, deviate from those using normal gradients by up to 100 mgal in high mountains. Using free-air gravity anomalies derived from observed and modeled gravity gradients, the authors can improve the relative geoid accuracies by up to 17 and 18 cm, respectively, for Route 3 (an area with high mountains) in Taiwan.

Advances, Problems and Prospects of Modern Geodesy Applied in Tibetan Geodynamic Changes

Abstract:Modern geodetic techniques have developed rapidly in recent years, providing reliable observation data and new effective approaches, and greatly enhancing studies of the Tibetan geodynamics. For instance, the well‐known GPS technique has been employed to measure seismic slips for many faults in the Tibetan Plateau. GPS data agree well with the hypothesis of a thickening crust and eastward mass flow. Moreover, absolute gravimetric data have been applied to interpret geophysical phenomena such as crust movement, co‐seismic gravity change, GIA, and ground water change. The satellite gravity mission GRACE launched in 2002 provided global gravity models with unprecedentedly high precision and high spatial resolution. It has been used in implementing temporal gravity changes and improving our knowledge of the Earth's interior, including lithosphere dynamics, mantle viscosity and rheology, plateau uplift, and subduction processing. It is noteworthy that gravity presents unique advantages for the study of Tibetan geodynamics because of its sensitivity to mass migration and dynamic redistribution. To date, great advances have been made in applying modern geodetic data in studying dynamic changes of Tibetan plateau. For instance, the horizontal displacement field from GPS data revealed dynamical characteristics of the present‐day Tibetan plateau. The combination of gravity anomalies and topographic data describe the tectonic characteristics of Tibetan plateau. The combination of gravity data and GPS data show present properties of the Tibetan plateau such as crust thickening, Moho's subsidence, and plateau uplift. GRACE data were used to estimate the distribution of ice/snow melting. These results demonstrate that mere application of integrated geodetic data as well as geophysical methods and numerical simulations can enhance our knowledge of Tibetan plateau dynamics. It must be pointed out that GRACE data include various geophysical signals such as crust vertical movement, denudation, ice and snow melting, GIA, ground water change, and permafrost degradation. To separate the tectonic information from other impulses, each physical signal must be evaluated and corrected carefully from the GRACE data. The Tibetan geodynamic problem is a complicated and synthetic issue that must be addressed through collaboration of workers in many fields. Succinctly put, although great achievements have been made in studying Tibetan plateau dynamics from each field, the dynamical process remains unclear. Some fundamental problems remain unresolved. They should be solved with modern geodetic data, such as GRACE, GPS, and absolute gravity data, combined with meteorological and geological data, for quantitative analysis of Tibetan plateau dynamics affected by respective geophysical sources. This review article introduces and discusses the scientific importance, advances, problems, and prospects of modern geodesy applied to the study of geodynamic changes of the Tibetan plateau.

Mechanical constraints on inversion of coseismic geodetic data for fault slip and geometry: Example from InSAR observation of the 6 October 2008Mw6.3 Dangxiong-Yangyi (Tibet) earthquake

[1] Modern geodetic techniques, such as the global positioning system (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), provide high-precision deformation measurements of earthquakes. Through elastic models and mathematical optimization methods, the observations can be related to a slip distribution model. The classic linear, kinematic, and static slip inversion problem requires specification of a smoothing norm of slip parameters and a residual norm of the data and a choice about the relative weight between the two norms. Inversions for unknown fault geometry are nonlinear and, therefore, the fault geometry is often assumed to be known for the slip inversion problem. We present a new method to invert simultaneously for fault slip and fault geometry assuming a uniform stress drop over the slipping area of the fault. The method uses a full Bayesian inference method as an engine to estimate the posterior probability distribution of stress drop, fault geometry parameters, and fault slip. We validate the method with a synthetic data set and apply the method to InSAR observations of a moderate-sized normal faulting event, the 6 October 2008 Mw 6.3 Dangxiong-Yangyi (Tibet) earthquake. The results show a 45.0 ± 0.2° west dipping fault with a maximum net slip of ∼1.13 m, and the static stress drop and rake angle are estimated as ∼5.43 MPa and ∼92.5°, respectively. The stress drop estimate falls within the typical range of earthquake stress drops known from previous studies.

Gravity measurements in southeastern Alaska reveal negative gravity rate of change caused by glacial isostatic adjustment

For the past 300 years, southeastern Alaska has undergone rapid ice‐melting and land uplift attributable to global warming. Corresponding crustal deformation (3 cm/yr) caused by the Little Ice Age retreat is detectable with modern geodetic techniques such as GPS and tidal gauge measurements. Geodetic deformation provides useful information for assessing ice‐melting rates, global warming effects, and subcrustal viscosity. Nevertheless, integrated geodetic observations, including gravity measurements, are important. To detect crustal deformation caused by glacial isostatic adjustment and to elucidate the viscosity structure in southeastern Alaska, Japanese and U.S. researchers began a joint 3‐year project in 2006 using GPS, Earth tide, and absolute gravity measurements. A new absolute gravity network was established, comprising five sites around Glacier Bay, near Juneau, Alaska. This paper reports the network's gravity measurements during 2006–2008. The bad ocean model in this area hindered ocean loading correction: Large tidal residuals remain in the observations. Accurate tidal correction necessitated on‐site tidal observation. Results show high observation precision for all five stations: <1 μGal. The gravity rate of change was found to be −3.5 to −5.6 μGal/yr in the gravity network. Furthermore, gravity results obtained during the 3 years indicate a similar gravity change rate. These gravity data are anticipated for application in geophysical studies of southeastern Alaska. Using gravity and vertical displacement data, we constructed a quantity to remove viscoelastic effects. The observations are thus useful to constrain present‐day ice thickness changes. A gravity bias of about −13.2 ± 0.1 mGal exists between the Potsdam and current FG5 gravity data.

Co and postseismic characteristics of Indian sub-continent in response to the 2004 Sumatra earthquake

The M w 9.3 Sumatra earthquake of December 26, 2004 caused extensive coseismic displacements globally, measurements of which were made essentially using modern geodetic techniques. This earthquake induced considerable perturbation in stress distribution as far as ∼8000 km away from the epicenteral region, which is tending to relax to its normal rates as seen from postseismic transient deformation. The monitoring of crustal displacements from strategically located sites using GPS provides coseismic as well as postseismic deformation that facilitates the understanding of the fault geometry, elastic thickness, postseismic relaxation mechanisms, rheology and earthquake recurrence time interval. We investigated coseismic and postseismic GPS derived displacements in Indian region together with the GPS data collected from Andaman and Sumatra region. It is found that while EW displacements are significantly large in peninsular India, those in the region to the north of Central India Tectonic Zone (CITZ) are relatively small. We could delineate the postseismic transients from position time series and interpreted them in terms of viscoelastic relaxation. It is inferred that the postseismic deformation is characterized by a power-law viscoelastic flow in the mantle. In Indian peninsula region, the timescale parameter of the exponential decay (τ = 250 days) would require an extremely low viscosity for the upper mantle. Relying on the prevailing coseismic and postseismic displacement fields, the present study also reflects upon the contemporary litho-tectonics of the Indian sub-continent.

Randomly iterated search and statistical competency as powerful inversion tools for deformation source modeling: Application to volcano interferometric synthetic aperture radar data

Modern geodetic techniques provide valuable and near real‐time observations of volcanic activity. Characterizing the source of deformation based on these observations has become of major importance in related monitoring efforts. We investigate two random search approaches, simulated annealing (SA) and genetic algorithm (GA), and utilize them in an iterated manner. The iterated approach helps to prevent GA in general and SA in particular from getting trapped in local minima, and it also increases redundancy for exploring the search space. We apply a statistical competency test for estimating the confidence interval of the inversion source parameters, considering their internal interaction through the model, the effect of the model deficiency, and the observational error. Here, we present and test this new randomly iterated search and statistical competency (RISC) optimization method together with GA and SA for the modeling of data associated with volcanic deformations. Following synthetic and sensitivity tests, we apply the improved inversion techniques to two episodes of activity in the Campi Flegrei volcanic region in Italy, observed by the interferometric synthetic aperture radar technique. Inversion of these data allows derivation of deformation source parameters and their associated quality so that we can compare the two inversion methods. The RISC approach was found to be an efficient method in terms of computation time and search results and may be applied to other optimization problems in volcanic and tectonic environments.

Models of active glacial isostasy roofing warm subduction: Case of the South Patagonian Ice Field

Modern geodetic techniques such as precise Global Positioning System (GPS) and high‐resolution space gravity mapping (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, GRACE) make it possible to measure the present‐day rate of viscoelastic gravitational Earth response to present and past glacier mass changes. The Andes of Patagonia contain glacial environments of dramatic mass change. These mass load changes occur near a tectonically active boundary between the Antarctic and South American plates. The mechanical strength of the continental side of this boundary is influenced by Neogene ridge subduction and by the subduction of a youthful oceanic slab. A ridge of young volcanos parallels the Pacific coastline. Release of volatiles (such as water) at depth along this ridge creates a unique rheological environment. To assess the influence of this rheological ridge structure on the observational land uplift rate, we apply a two‐dimensional viscoelastic Earth model. A numerical study is presented which examines the sensitivity of the glacial loading‐unloading response to the complex structure at depth related to the subducting slab, the viscous wedge between slab and continental lithosphere, and the increase of elastic thickness from oceanic to continental lithosphere. A key feature revealed by our numerical experiments is a continuum flow wherein the slab subdues the material transport toward oceanic mantle and crust. The restricted flow is sensitive to the details of slab mechanical strength and penetration into the upper mantle. The reduced viscosity within the mantle wedge, however, enhances the load‐induced material transport everywhere within the asthenosphere.

Bedrock response to Llanquihue Holocene and present‐day glaciation in southernmost South America

Modern geodetic techniques, such as precise Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements and high resolution space gravity mapping, make it possible to measure the present‐day rate of viscoelastic gravitational Earth response to present and past glacier mass change. Patagonia is a rapidly evolving glacial environment. Over the past decade, the local rate of surface stress unloading may be the largest anywhere on the planet. We compute the present‐day land uplift rate that could be observed using bedrock GPS measurements. The Little Ice Age (LIA) of the past half millennium generates large vertical rates since the underlying mantle material is likely to have anomalously low viscosity owing to late‐Neogene ridge subduction.

Dissipation and Ellipticity of the Chandler Wobble

AbstractThe Chandler wobble, one of the main feature of the Earth’s polar motion, is related to the properties of the mantle and liquid core as well as the mobility of the oceans. The equilibrium pole tide and mantle anelasticity both lengthen the Chandler period, moreover, the former imposes a slight ellipticity on the pole path, and the latter is responsible for the wobble energy dissipation. On the basis of the perturbation principles, we derive the theoretical Qω of the Chandler wobble, assuming that the wobble energy is totally dissipated within the mantle. The theoretical ellipticity and orientation of the semimajor axis of the Chandler wobble path for an anelastic Earth are given. Compared with the results for the elastic Earth, the effect of mantle anelasticity does not change the wobble ellipticity significantly, but slightly changes the orientation of the semimajor axis in the opposite direction. This paper has also proved that the effect of the Earth’s 3-axis feature on the wobble ellipticity is only about 19% of that of the equilibrium pole tide. Analysis of the polar motion data obtained by using modern geodetic techniques shows that the observed ellipticity and orientation of the semimajor axis agree with the theoretical results. We can deduce that the pole tide in the globe should be close to equilibrium.