Vertical Coordinate Research Articles

FLEXPART version 11: improved accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility

Abstract. Numerical methods and simulation codes are essential for the advancement of our understanding of complex atmospheric processes. As technology and computer hardware continue to evolve, the development of sophisticated code is vital for accurate and efficient simulations. In this paper, we present the recent advancements made in the FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model (FLEXPART), a Lagrangian particle dispersion model, which has been used in a wide range of atmospheric transport studies over the past 3 decades, extending from tracing radionuclides from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, to inverse modelling of greenhouse gases, and to the study of atmospheric moisture cycles. This version of FLEXPART includes notable improvements in accuracy and computational efficiency. (1) By leveraging the native vertical coordinates of European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) instead of interpolating to terrain-following coordinates, we achieved an improvement in trajectory accuracy, leading to a ∼8 %–10 % reduction in conservation errors for quasi-conservative quantities like potential vorticity. (2) The shape of aerosol particles is now accounted for in the gravitational settling and dry-deposition calculation, increasing the simulation accuracy for non-spherical aerosol particles such as microplastic fibres. (3) Wet deposition has been improved by the introduction of a new below-cloud scheme, by a new cloud identification scheme, and by improving the interpolation of precipitation. (4) Functionality from a separate version of FLEXPART, the FLEXPART CTM (chemical transport model), is implemented, which includes linear chemical reactions. Additionally, the incorporation of Open Multi-Processing parallelisation makes the model better suited for handling large input data. Furthermore, we introduced novel methods for the input and output of particle properties and distributions. Users now have the option to run FLEXPART with more flexible particle input data, providing greater adaptability for specific research scenarios (e.g. effective backward simulations corresponding to satellite retrievals). Finally, a new user manual (https://flexpart.img.univie.ac.at/docs/, last access: 11 September 2024) and restructuring of the source code into modules will serve as a basis for further development.

Customised Methodology to Assess and Measure Effectiveness of Integrated Landscape Management Relevant Multi-Stakeholder Transformative Governance, Incorporating Rights-Based Planning and Tenure Aspects, Applied in Kenya, Nigeria, and Viet Nam

Different thinking and strategies are needed to transform our food systems at different scales. Food systems can be changed towards a more sustainable path through multi-stakeholder transformative governance at the landscape level because that is where national-level visions, objectives, and policies meet with local practice, priorities, and actions. Concrete and practical guidance on how to effectively put a multi-stakeholder transformative governance process into practice is missing. Through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded ‘Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Impact Programme’, led by the World Bank, countries are supported in integrated landscape management (ILM) to ensure that production systems are embedded within wider landscapes to safeguard the natural capital and ecosystem services on which they depend. A customised methodology to assess and measure the effectiveness of ILM-relevant multi-stakeholder transformative governance, incorporating rights-based planning and tenure aspects, has been developed that makes governance explicit in the ILM process. This methodology aims to improve landscape-level institutional coordination, coherence, and collaboration through enhanced horizontal and vertical coordination and network dynamics. The conceptual framework of the customised methodology and how to operationalise it are explained and illustrated with the application in the country projects in Kenya, Nigeria, and Viet Nam. Making transformative governance explicit within the ILM process at the landscape level will require investments in time and capabilities, but allows governance to act as a catalyst towards more sustainable pathways.

Addressing integration in the organization of palliative care in belgium: a multilevel ecosystems approach using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method

BackgroundPalliative care is becoming an essential component of healthcare, but there is insufficient research on how integration across different levels of care (micro, meso, and macro) is realized in practice. Without such integration, care may become fragmented, leading to suboptimal patient outcomes. While many studies have explored palliative care models, there is a gap in understanding how priorities for integrated care align across these levels within healthcare ecosystems. Specifically, it is unclear whether key actions at each level are shared, coordinated, and supported effectively, making it difficult to implement sustainable, cohesive care strategies. Our study aims to explore the extent to which important goals (i.e., priorities) are shared across the micro, meso, and macro levels of the palliative care ecosystem in Flanders, Belgium.MethodsWe applied a multimethod study using the analytic hierarchy process method (AHP). This consists of three sequential steps: a broad literature search and interviews with Belgian stakeholders (n = 12) to determine the criteria for the organization of integrated care; focus groups (n = 8) with patients, their relatives and caregivers to establish the completeness and relevance of the criteria; and prioritization of the criteria using a questionnaire among 305 Flemish participants (patients, relatives, caregivers and policy makers).ResultsOur findings revealed that integration is imbalanced, with priorities being most emphasized at the micro level (57%), followed by the meso (29%) and macro (14%) level. Functional enablers dominate at the macro (80%) and meso organizational level (67%), while normative enablers are emphasized at the meso professional (67%) and micro level (75%). Effective palliative care requires vertical coordination of these enablers: for instance, transparent communication with patients at the micro level depends on cross-organizational information exchange at the meso level, supported by a unified data system at the macro level.ConclusionAchieving integrated palliative care requires deliberate alignment of priorities across all levels of the ecosystem. While each level plays a unique role, palliative care is comprehensive and effective only by sharing both functional and normative enablers across micro, meso, and macro level.

Development of the wave motion induced by near-bottom periodic disturbances in a two-layer shear current

The behavior of wave motion arising in an ideal incompressible homogeneous fluid under switching-on periodic bottom disturbances is studied in the linear approximation for the two-dimensional non-stationary problem. In the undisturbed state, the velocities of two-layer fluid flow are linear functions of the vertical coordinate in each of the layers with different gradients and coincide on the boundary of the layers. The upper boundary of fluid can be either free or bounded by the rigid cover. The dispersion dependences and the group velocities of the appearing wave modes are determined. The vertical displacements of the free surface and the interface between the layers are calculated. A comparison with the solution for a single-layer fluid is carried out.

Analysing the feasibility of agro-based value chain configurations in the rural context with B2B marketing

Purpose This paper aims to advocate for small-scale entrepreneurship with commercial cultivation to earn better profits at the farmer level. This paper explores potential value chain configurations of vertical coordination. Design/methodology/approach The aloe vera supply chain was examined for the study where aloe vera juice is the product. The various configurations are complete vertical coordination, semi-vertical coordination and non-vertical coordination. These were analysed to find feasibility and market prospects based on parameters. The cyclic view of supply chains, comparative analysis and fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process algorithm are presented. Findings The semi-vertically coordinated supply chain is indicated as the optimum setup to initiate value chains. The entrepreneurs in this configuration will be able to sell semi-finished produce to a brand that will process and distribute the final product. This B2B setup will help the farmer to earn better revenues in the post-COVID-19 scenario. Effective marketing with improved execution and innovation will boost the food processing industry. Research limitations/implications This study uses an established methodology to distinguish among alternatives based on underlying factors. The study is based on data collected from stakeholders. The study reflects the most accurate picture of real-world scenarios at the farm and market level in the Indian context. Practical implications This study’s learnings will help understand the organisational approach to serve demand by designing unique business configurations. Adapting the fundamental model with technological intervention will improve supply chain performance and sustainability. The most modern approaches in agri-business, such as subscription models, vertical farming, corporate entrepreneurship and technological intervention, will be covered in future work. Social implications This study will help stakeholders, including the government, decide whether to introduce training skills, subsidy policies, business expansion ideas and feasibility studies. Originality/value The study highlights the strategic role of developing the B2B platform to support customer values and customer ecosystem with better product availability.

Strategic Management Model in Achieving Presidential Regulation on Electronic-Based Government System in Medan City Government

This research aims to determine the quality of public services through the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE), as well as to know and analyze the Implementation of Strategies for Achieving PERPRES No. 95 of 2018 concerning SPBE in the Medan City Government. This research is important to obtain a Strategic Management Model in Achieving PERPRES No.95 of 2018 concerning SPBE in the Medan City Government. The research paradigm used is Constructivist Paradigm, with Qualitative Research Method. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, discussions with several informants from the Medan City Office, DPRD, UPT Kecamatan, and community leaders. In addition, data was also collected through literature study, document study, and secondary data. The results showed the following: First, there is coordination between agencies in the development of application services. The coordination is conducted by the Diskominfo of Medan City Government. A number of Departments used external consultants in the development of SPBE. Diskominfo made new rules to address ICT service issues. The services use external programmers and experts and if an error occurs, the City Government is not responsible for the service. Secondly, Medan City Government conducted a Memorandum of Understanding with Tangerang City to collaborate and share resources through the innovation of E-Files application for correspondence needs. The use of shared correspondence applications by the Government in Tangerang City was adjusted based on the specific needs of each city. The platform used is the same, but with different application names, E-Files in Tangerang and Sarana in Medan. Third, there are 3 SPBE service providers in Medan City Government, including: Telkom (PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia) for Kelurahan/Kecamatan, GDS (Global Digital Solusi) for Diskominfo and other OPDs, and TNC (Telemedia Network Cakrawala) for Medan City Office. Fourth, Medan City Government uses a Strategic Management Model that combines the Environmental Model with the Collaboration Model in developing the Achievement of PERPRES No.95/2018 on SPBE in Medan City Government. The Environmental Model/Flow emphasizes vertical and horizontal coordination between work units in Medan City Government. The Collaboration Model develops a strategy of collaborative cooperation with other local governments or state-owned/private enterprises.

Koordinasi Pemerintah Desa dalam Penyusunan Rencana Kerja Pemerintah Desa di Desa Tamiajeng Kecamatan Trawas Kabupaten Mojokerto

The implementation of a village government work plan can run well because it is based on coordination and cooperation between the village government and the activity implementer. In this research, the researcher will use descriptive qualitative research, because the researcher wants to describe and describe in detail the phenomena or problems raised. The location of this research was conducted in Tamiajeng Village, Trawas District, Mojokerto Regency. The focus of this research is on vertical, horizontal and functional coordination in preparing the Village Government Work Plan in Tamiajeng Village. The sources of informants in this research were the Village Head, Head of the Village Development Planning Section, Village Secretary, and Village Staff/Apparatus involved in preparing village government work plans. Data collection techniques, such as Interviews, Questionnaires and Observations. Techniques for testing data validity in qualitative research, namely trustworthiness, transferability, dependability and conformability. Data analysis techniques use data reduction, data collection, data presentation and conclusions. The research results show that the coordination carried out by the Tamiajeng village government as a whole has gone quite well, both vertically, horizontally and functionally. Community participation is quite active in musrembangdes activities to voice aspirations. The key to success in coordinating the preparation of RKPDes for Tamiajeng village is communication, collaboration and cooperation between village institutions and village communities.

Detection of hand motion during cadaveric mastoidectomy dissections: a technical note.

Surgical approaches that access the posterior temporal bone require careful drilling motions to achieve adequate exposure while avoiding injury to critical structures. We assessed a deep learning hand motion detector to potentially refine hand motion and precision during power drill use in a cadaveric mastoidectomy procedure. A deep-learning hand motion detector tracked the movement of a surgeon's hands during three cadaveric mastoidectomy procedures. The model provided horizontal and vertical coordinates of 21 landmarks on both hands, which were used to create vertical and horizontal plane tracking plots. Preliminary surgical performance metrics were calculated from the motion detections. 1,948,837 landmark detections were collected, with an overall 85.9% performance. There was similar detection of the dominant hand (48.2%) compared to the non-dominant hand (51.7%). A loss of tracking occurred due to the increased brightness caused by the microscope light at the center of the field and by movements of the hand outside the field of view of the camera. The mean (SD) time spent (seconds) during instrument changes was 21.5 (12.4) and 4.4 (5.7) during adjustments of the microscope. A deep-learning hand motion detector can measure surgical motion without physical sensors attached to the hands during mastoidectomy simulations on cadavers. While preliminary metrics were developed to assess hand motion during mastoidectomy, further studies are needed to expand and validate these metrics for potential use in guiding and evaluating surgical training.

Experimental and numerical study on mechanical properties of sand-contaminated ballast aggregates in confined condition

This study investigates the impact of sand contamination on the mechanical properties of railway ballasted tracks in confined condition. A combination of experimental confined uniaxial compression tests and discrete element method (DEM) simulations was employed. The experiments assessed the bulk density and elastic modulus of ballast aggregates, while the DEM simulations focused on sand movement, coordination numbers, and contact forces to elucidate the mesoscopic behavior. Findings from both experiments and simulations consistently demonstrate that sand contamination linearly increases the bulk density and causes a non-linear increase in the elastic modulus of ballast aggregates. With increasing degrees of sand contamination under vertical loading, both coordination numbers and contact forces are reduced. Sand intrusion initially leads to an uneven distribution of sand grains, primarily in the lower layer of the ballast aggregate; however, this distribution becomes more uniform when contamination exceeds 62.5%. The presence of sand particles diminishes the contact forces between ballast particles, thereby escalating the challenges associated with maintenance and repair.

Split-explicit external mode solver in the finite volume sea ice–ocean model FESOM2

Abstract. A novel split-explicit (SE) external mode solver for the Finite volumE Sea ice–Ocean Model (FESOM2) and its sub-versions is presented. It is compared with the semi-implicit (SI) solver currently used in FESOM2. The split-explicit solver for the external mode utilizes a dissipative asynchronous (forward–backward) time-stepping scheme that does not require additional filtering during the barotropic sub-cycling. Its implementation with arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian vertical coordinates like Z star (z*) and Z tilde (z̃) is explored. The comparisons are performed through multiple test cases involving idealized and realistic global simulations. The SE solver demonstrates lower phase errors and dissipation, while maintaining a simulated mean ocean state very similar to the SI solver. The SE solver is also shown to possess better run-time performance and parallel scalability across all workloads tested.

A New Precise Point Positioning with Ambiguity Resolution (PPP-AR) Approach for Ground Control Point Positioning for Photogrammetric Generation with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now widely preferred systems that are capable of rapid mapping and generating topographic models with relatively high positional accuracy. Since the integrated GNSS receivers of UAVs do not allow for sufficiently accurate outcomes either horizontally or vertically, a conventional method is to use ground control points (GCPs) to perform bundle block adjustment (BBA) of the outcomes. Since the number of GCPs to be installed limits the process in UAV operations, there is an important research question whether the precise point positioning (PPP) method can be an alternative when the real-time kinematic (RTK), network RTK, and post-process kinematic (PPK) techniques cannot be used to measure GCPs. This study introduces a novel approach using precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR) for ground control point (GCP) positioning in UAV photogrammetry. For this purpose, the results are evaluated by comparing the horizontal and vertical coordinates obtained from the 24 h GNSS sessions of six calibration pillars in the field and the horizontal length differences obtained by electronic distance measurement (EDM). Bartlett’s test is applied to statistically determine the accuracy of the results. The results indicate that the coordinates obtained from a two-hour PPP-AR session show no significant difference from those acquired in a 30 min session, demonstrating PPP-AR to be a viable alternative for GCP positioning. Therefore, the PPP technique can be used for the BBA of GCPs to be established for UAVs in large-scale map generation. However, the number of GCPs to be selected should be four or more, which should be homogeneously distributed over the study area.

Existence of equilibrium in a dynamic supply chain game with vertical coordination, horizontal competition, and complementary goods

We consider supply chain competition and vertical coordination in a linear–quadratic differential game setting. In this setting, supply chains produce complementary goods and each of them includes a single manufacturer and a single retailer who coordinate their decisions through a revenue-sharing contract with a wholesale price and a fixed sales revenue share. We study a multiple leader-follower Stackelberg game where the manufacturers are the leaders and the retailers are the followers. Competition occurs at both levels of the supply chains. Retailers play Nash and compete in price; manufacturers also play Nash but they compete in choosing their production capacities by exploiting the equilibrium price decisions made by the retailers. We show that open-loop Nash equilibria exist when the manufacturers only receive a wholesale price (there are no longer exploiting the equilibrium price decision made by the retailers, however). When the manufacturers receive both a wholesale-price and a share of the retailers’ sales revenues, equilibria generally no longer exist. The non-existence of an equilibrium stems from the fact that the manufacturers’ instant profits are discontinuous functions of their production capacities. This discontinuity leads to a major technical difficulty in that one cannot apply standard optimal control approaches to study the equilibria of the dynamic game. Our results illustrate the possibility that competition between supply chains might not be sustainable when they sell complementary products and rely on a revenue-sharing agreement.

Innovative strategies and forward thinking on China’s digital maritime law enforcement

In the digital era, the limitations of traditional maritime law enforcement models have become apparent. China actively promotes digital maritime law enforcement and has conducted thorough exploration across policy, technology, and legal domains. The primary legal foundation is the Coast Guard Law, bolstered by policy initiatives like the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, the “Maritime Community with a Shared Future” strategy, and the “Technology Empowers the Marine” plan. By coupling law and technology, China’s digital maritime law enforcement has innovatively established a three-dimensional enforcement model of “online + offline” at sea. It utilizes artificial intelligence to assist in maritime law enforcement decision-making, employs big data sharing for collaborative maritime law enforcement, and advances maritime compliance enforcement by digital technology. Through case analysis and effectiveness assessment, China’s digital maritime law enforcement has yielded significant results. Nonetheless, it also encounters various challenges, including data privacy infringement, cybersecurity attacks, the legitimacy of digital evidence collection, and data sharing barriers. Therefore, at the institutional level, standardizing digital maritime law enforcement procedures and establishing both horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms are imperative. At the technical level, introducing privacy protection technologies and increasing investment in network security technologies are necessary. At the conceptual level, China should adhere to data ethics principles and strengthen awareness of open data sharing. The future of the oceans is digital, and China should advance the modernization of national maritime governance through digital maritime law enforcement.

Carbon emission reduction initiatives: Lessons from the REDD+ process of the Asia and Pacific region

Carbon emission reduction through land use management and forest-based initiatives such as REDD+ depends on multiple factors, including awareness programs, capacity building and inclusive design, and equitable and transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms. Even after a couple of decades of discussion over the REDD+ process, there have still been many contested issues that need to be resolved. Taking the case of three countries in the Asia and Pacific Region ― Vietnam, Nepal, and Fiji, ― at different stages of the REDD+, we have mapped the countries’ progress toward emission reduction program and its benefit-sharing mechanism, documented the perceived impact of a capacity building program and provided the stakeholders’ perspective on the performance of REDD+ program. Our study shows REDD+ participating countries are implementing various REDD+ capacity-building programs, but having a different level of impact from the stakeholders’ perspective. Multilevel governance presents challenges for REDD+ outcomes, as REDD+-related policies and legislations are constrained within the forest ministry but not in other sector ministries, leading to both vertical and horizontal coordination issues. Much emphasis has been given to the technical content of capacity-building programs but little has been done to enhance the functional capacity of REDD+ implementers, especially of Indigenous People and Local Communities. The decision-making process on emission reduction benefit-sharing is neither transparent nor inclusive. Although various social safeguard mechanisms are proposed by the studied countries, there is still a huge gap in understanding the impact capacity building programs in inclusive decision-making, and equitable benefit sharing for Indigenous people. REDD+ stakeholders perceived that REDD+ can be a promising financial tool for developing countries and also contribute to non-carbon benefits, but the prospects of benefit-sharing plans are not fairly inclusive. Increasing transparency and accountability through digital platforms, raising the carbon price from $5/tCO2, adopting unified safeguards, and strengthening horizontal and vertical collaboration at all levels are pivotal for the REDD+ program to generate manifold environmental and livelihood benefits in the Asia and Pacific Region.

Passive Vision Detection of Torch Pose in Swing Arc Narrow Gap Welding.

To enhance the synchronous detection of the horizontal and vertical positions of the torch in swing arc narrow gap welding, a torch pose detection (TPD) method is proposed. This approach utilizes passive visual sensing to capture images of the arc on the groove sidewall, using advanced image processing methods to extract and fit the arc contour. The coordinates of the arc contour center point and the highest point are determined through the arc contour fitting line. The torch center position is calculated from the average horizontal coordinates of the arc contour centers in adjacent welding images, while the height position is determined from the vertical coordinate of the arc's highest point. Experimental validation in both variable and constant groove welding conditions demonstrated the TPD method's accuracy within 0.32 mm for detecting the torch center position. This method eliminates the need to construct the wire centerline, which was a requirement in previous approaches, thereby reducing the impact of wire straightness on detection accuracy. The proposed TPD method successfully achieves simultaneous detection of the torch center and height positions, laying the foundation for intelligent detection and adaptive control in swing arc narrow gap welding.

Complex Heat Exchange of Structures Taking Into Account Radiation Cooling in Indoor Ice Rinks

Statement of the problem. The aim of the work is to construct a numerical model of complex radiation-convective heat exchange of the roof structures of an indoor skating rink with moist air of the upper zone to identify the dependencies of the increase in the velocity and area of condensation of water vapor on the height of the room Results. Based on the results of a numerical study of the process of complex non—stationary heat exchange of the system «surface of the floor structure — indoor air –– ice surface», theoretical dependences of the increase in the velocity and area of condensation of water vapor from the vertical coordinate under the action of radiation cooling from the ice field were obtained for the first time. Conclusions. The obtained dependences allow us to theoretically justify the choice of rational technical solutions and operating modes of ventilation and air conditioning systems in the upper zone to prevent condensation on the internal surfaces of building and enclosing structures.

Вплив причіпних ланок на керованість тракторних самохідних шасі

An analysis of methods for calculating the distribution of normal reactions of the road between the axles of the tractor unit was carried out. It is shown that they are based on the misconception that traction forces and rolling resistance forces are applied in the spots of contact of the wheels with the road. The research shows that installing a towing link on a tractor self-propelled chassis through the rear suspension system at a level below the axis of the rear wheels (the diameter of which is larger in relation to the diameter of the front wheels) allows reducing the additional unloading of the front wheels. A more correct scheme of the tractor unit with the application of the traction force and the rolling resistance force on the wheel axles is calculated, which determines the increase in the total normal reaction on the front wheels of the tractor self-propelled chassis when working with the towing link. It is shown that an increase in the difference in the dynamic radii of the front and rear wheels, a decrease in the vertical coordinate of the center of mass of the tractor unit leads to an increase in the normal reaction of the road on the front wheels. Since the controllability of wheeled machines increases with the growth of the normal reaction on the front wheels, the presence of towing links with the attachment point located below the axis of the rear driving wheel increases the controllability of the tractor unit based on the self-propelled chassis. The problem of determining the total normal reaction of the road on the front wheels of a tractor self-propelled chassis with a trailing link in the case of application of the traction force and the force of movement resistance on the wheel axles has been solved. To increase the accuracy of finding the total normal reaction of the road on the front wheels of the tractor self-propelled chassis, which will allow to clarify the assessment of the controllability of the latter when moving with a towed link. Increasing the difference in the dynamic radii of the wheels and reducing the base of the tractor self-propelled chassis allows you to increase the value of the total normal reaction of the road on the wheels in relation to the horizontal reaction in the hinge of the axle of the trailer link. It was determined that the operation of the tractor self-propelled chassis with trailing links is characterized by a higher efficiency factor of its chassis compared to a universal tractor of class 0.6 and higher efforts under the condition that its front platform is loaded.

Internationalization of Clusters: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of Township Industrial Clusters

This study aims to examine the internationalization of clusters, a driving force of the rising of multinational firms from emerging markets. We explored the question from the knowledge and relational dimension of clusters. We examine how the configuration of four factors, namely, component knowledge, architecture knowledge, horizontal competition, and vertical coordination, within a cluster jointly affect the degree of cluster internationalization by utilizing the Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method. Using Data of 34 township clusters in Suzhou City, China, we identified three models that lead to a high cluster internationalization level.

Superdiffusive planar random walks with polynomial space–time drifts

We quantify superdiffusive transience for a two-dimensional random walk in which the vertical coordinate is a martingale and the horizontal coordinate has a positive drift that is a polynomial function of the individual coordinates and of the present time. We describe how the model was motivated through an heuristic connection to a self-interacting, planar random walk which interacts with its own centre of mass via an excluded-volume mechanism, and is conjectured to be superdiffusive with a scale exponent 3/4. The self-interacting process originated in discussions with Francis Comets.

Benefit of classical leveling for geoid-based vertical reference frames

Classically, vertical reference frames were realized as national or continent-wide networks of geopotential differences derived from geodetic leveling, i.e., from the combination of spirit leveling and gravimetry. Those networks are affected by systematic errors in leveling, leading to tilts in the order of decimeter to meter in larger networks. Today, there opens the possibility to establish a worldwide unified vertical reference frame based on a conventional (quasi)geoid model. Such a frame would be accessible through GNSS measurements, i.e., physical heights would be derived by the method of GNSS-leveling. The question arises, whether existing geodetic leveling data are abolished completely for the realization of vertical reference frames, are used for validation purposes only, or whether existing or future geodetic leveling data can still be of use for the realization of vertical reference frames. The question is mainly driven by the high quality of leveled potential differences over short distances. In the following we investigate two approaches for the combination of geopotential numbers from GNSS-leveling and potential differences from geodetic leveling. In the first approach, both data sets are combined in a common network adjustment leading to potential values at the benchmarks of the leveling network. In the second approach, potential differences from geodetic leveling are used as observable for regional gravity field modeling. This leads to a grid of geoid heights based on classical observables like gravity anomalies and now also on leveled potential differences. Based on synthetic data and a realistic stochastic model, we show that incorporating leveled potential differences improves the quality of a continent-wide network of GNSS-heights (approach 1) by about 40% and that formal and empirical errors of a regional geoid model (approach 2) are reduced by about 20% at leveling benchmarks. While these numbers strongly depend on the chosen stochastic model, the results show the benefit of using leveled potential differences for the realization of a modern geoid-based reference frame. Independent of the specific numbers of the improvement, an additional benefit is the consistency (within the error bounds of each observation type) of leveling data with vertical coordinates from GNSS and a conventional geoid model. Even though we focus on geodetic leveling, the methods proposed are independent of the specific technique used to observe potential (or equivalently height) differences and can thus be applied also to other techniques like chronometric or hydrodynamic leveling.