IERS Message No. 7

central_bureau at iers.org central_bureau at iers.org
Tue Mar 27 07:58:15 UTC 2001


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IERS Message No. 7                                           March 27, 2001
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                ITRF Report 4 on local ties

      Report on local tie problems in colocation sites
             as result from ITRF2000 Analysis

                      Zuheir Altamimi
                  IERS ITRS Product Center
           Institut Geographique National, France

                  Date: March 22, 2001



The importance of local ties in space geodetic colocation sites is no
longer to be demonstrated. Their impact on the ITRF solutions is very
critical since they represent the key element of ITRF combination.

Based on ITRF2000 residual analysis, the current situation of local ties
is summarized in the following two tables:

Table 1: Missing Local Ties: Sites where local ties between some or all
points are missing (information is not available at IERS ITRS Product
Center).

Table 2: Dubious local ties: Sites where local tie estimates differ
from Space Geodesy estimates.

The current local ties collected by the ITRS-PC since more than 10
years come from heterogeneous sources and do not always contain quality
(precision) information, necessary for rigorous ITRF combination. These
local ties are used in ITRF combinations as observations with proper
variances. In case where these variances are not available, they are
computed using a geodetic formula given in ITRF publications.

Note that a dubious local tie is declared as such if its ITRF2000 post
fit residuaul is larger than or equal to 1 cm. This threshold of 1 cm is
the minimum requirement for a global frame aimed to be good to at least
1 ppb level (6 mm over the Earth's surface). Therefore the ITRF2000
residual analysis is a tool to assess their quality or their level of
agreement with Space Geodesy estimates. Dubious local ties are due to
at least one of the following reasons:

- They are imprecise
- They are in error
- Space Geodesy estimate is imprecise
- Space Geodesy estimate is in error

Each one of these two tables is sorted in two categories, according to
their importance for ITRF:


***: Highly Important Sites, given their geographic location and/or 
     quality of their geodetic instruments. These critical sites are mostly
     those where local ties between points observed by at least two
     different techniques are not available (Table 1), respectively dubious
     (Table 2). This is the case for example of:

     - Wuhan (China) where the local tie between the SLR and GPS points 
       is not available.
     
     - Fairbanks (ALASKA) where the local tie between the VLBI and GPS 
       points is dubious.


*  : Very Important Sites, given the quality of their geodetic 
     instruments. These sites are those where SOME local ties are 
     not available (resp. dubious). This is the case for example of:
    
     - Tromso (Norway) where the new GPS point is not connected to 
       VLBI, SLR, DORIS or the old GPS points. 
     
     - Wettzell (Germany) where the local tie connecting the SLR point 
       8834 (S018) is dubious.

In order to remedy this situation, it is recommended to initiate 
efforts starting with Highly important sites. 

A useful information (per-site residual summary and plots) highlighting 
the quality of local ties in ITRF2000 colocation sites is available on the 
web at:

          http://lareg.ensg.ign.fr/ITRF/ITRF2000/valsit.html



Table 1: Missing Local Ties

Sites where local ties between some or all points are missing

                                    Missing tie per
DOMES Site Name        Country  Imp Technique (Point)
                                     
----- ---------------- -------- --- --------------------------------
Highly Important Sites

10317 NY-ALESUND       NORWAY   *** VLBI(S003 7331)
12309 MENDELEEVO       RUSSIA   *** SLR(S001 1870), GPS(M002 MDVO)  
12329 YUZHNO-SAKHALINS RUSSIA   *** GPS(M003 YSSK), DORIS(S001 SAKA)    
 
12337 SIMEIS           UKRAINE  *** SLR(M001 7561), SLR(S003 1873)
                                    SLR(S006 1893), VLBI(S008 7332) 
21602 WUHAN            CHINA    *** SLR(S003 7236), GPS(M001 WUHN)      
21605 SHANGHAI         CHINA    *** GPS(M002 SHAO), VLBI(S008 7226)
21609 KUNMING          CHINA    *** GPS(M001 KUNM), SLR(S002 7820)
21612 URUMQI           CHINA    *** GPS(M001 URUM), VLBI(S001 7330)
21701 KASHIMA          JAPAN    *** SLR(M002 7335), VLBI(S001 1856)
                                    VLBI(S004 1857), VLBI(S006 7334)
21704 KOGANEI          JAPAN    *** SLR(M001 7328), SLR(S002 7308)
                                    S002(S004 7327)
21729 USUDA            JAPAN    *** VLBI(S001 7246), GPS(S007 USUD)
23903 SUWN-SHI         S. KOREA *** GPS(M001 SUWN), VLBI(S001 7353)
21733 MINAMI TORI SIMA JAPAN    *** SLR(S001 7300), VLBI(S002 7310)
21739 MIURA            JAPAN    *** SLR(M001 7337), VLBI(S001 7336)
21740 TATEYAMA         JAPAN    *** SLR(M001 7339), VLBI(S001 7338)
30302 HARTEBEESTHOEK   S.AFRICA *** SLR(M003 7501)
40403 PALOS VERDES     USA      *** VLBI(M001 7268), GPS(M002 PVEP)
40419 KODIAK           USA      *** VLBI(M001 7278), GPS(S001 KOD1)
42501 BERMUDA          USA      *** SLR(M001 7067), VLBI(M002 7294)
                                    GPS(S004 BRMU)
Very Important Sites

10302 TROMSO           NORWAY   *   GPS(M006 TRO1)
12302 RIGA             LATVIA   *   SLR(S006 1885)  
12725 CAGLIARI         ITALY    *   SLR(S013 7548)
13402 SAN FERNANDO     SPAIN    *   SLR(S007 7824)
14201 WETTZELL         GERMANY  *   SLR(M200 7594), VLBI(S100 7593)  
21730 TSUKUBA          JAPAN    *   VLBI(S007 7345) 
21732 CHICHIJIMA       JAPAN    *   VLBI(S004 7347)
40405 GOLDSTONE        USA      *   GPS(S031 GOLD, current 
                                    IGS point, Post-Landers)
40437 MAMMOTH LAKES    USA      *   (M001 7259), (M002 CASA)
                                    Mobile VLBI - GPS ~4km
40439 OWENS VALLEY     USA      *   VLBA(S006 7616)
40451 WASHINGTON       USA      *   GPS(S003 USNO)
40492 VERNAL           USA      *   SLR(M001 7892), VLBI(M002 7290)
                                    (Destroyed)     
40499 RICHMOND         USA      *   VLBI(S019 7201), GPS(S020 RCM6)


Table 2: Dubious Local Ties
---------------------------
DOMES  Site Name     Country   Imp Techniques/points                  Delta 
                                                                       (cm)
----- -------------- --------  --- ---------------------------------- -----
Highly Important Sites

10204 HOFN           ICELAND   *** VLBI(M001 7635)/GPS(M002 HOFN)        10
12717 NOTO           ITALY     *** VLBI(7547 S001)/GPS(M003 NOTO)         1
12734 MATERA         ITALY     *** VLBI(7234 S005)/GPS(M008 MATE)         1
13402 SAN FERNANDO   SPAIN     *** SLR(S004 7824)/GPS(M004 SFER)          5
13407 MADRID         SPAIN     *** GPS(MADR S012)/VLBI(1565 S010)         1
20805 ANKARA         TURKEY    *** SLR(M001 7589)/GPS(M002 ANKR)         30
21601 BEIJING        CHINA     *** GPS(M001 BJFS)/SLR(S004 7249)          5
21605 SHANGHAI       CHINA     *** SLR(S001 7837)/VLBI(S009 7227)         5
21732 CHICHIJIMA     JAPAN     *** VLBI(S001 7316)/SLR(S002 7844)        50 
30302 HARTEBEESTHOEK S.AFRICA  *** GPS(HART M002, HARK M007, HRAO M004)   1
                                   DORIS(HBLA S005, HBKA S202)            1
40104 ALGONQUIN      CANADA    *** VLBI(7282 S001)/GPS(ALGO M002)         1
40408 FAIRBANKS      USA       *** GPS(FAIR M001)/VLBI(7225 S002)         2
                                   GPS/DORIS(FAIA S004, FAIB S005)        1
40440 WESTFORD       USA       *** VLBI(S003 7209)/GPS(S020 WES2)         2 
40451 GREENBELT      USA       *** GPS(GODE M123)/Other site points       1
50501 GUAM           USA       *** GPS(GUAM M002)/DORIS(GUAB S001)        3
66006 SYOWA          ANTARTICA *** VLBI(7342 S004)/GPS + DORIS            5
66007 ROTHERA        ANTARTICA *** GPS(ROT1 M001)/DORIS(ROTA S001)        7 
66008 O'HIGGINS      ANTARTICA *** VLBI(S001 7245)/GPS(M001 OHIG)         3
91501 PETRELS Is. TERRE ADELIE *** GPS(DUM1 M001)/DORIS(ADEA S001)        3
97301 KOUROU     FRENCH GUIANA *** GPS(KOUR M210)/DORIS(KRUB S004)        5

Very Important Sites

10317 NY-ALESUND     NORWAY    *   GPS(NYA1 M003)                         2
14201 WETTZELL       GERMANY   *   SLR(8834 S018)/Other site points       1
40405 GOLDSTONE      USA       *   SLR(7085 M001, 7115 M002, 7265 M006)
                                   VLBI(1514 S001, 7222 S009, 1513 S014, 
                                   1515 S019), DORIS(GOMA S005)         1-5
40439 OWENS VALLEY   USA       *   VLBI(7207 S002)/Other site points      2
40499 RICHMOND       USA       *   VLBI(7219 S001)/GPS(RCM5 S018)         1

___________________________________________________________________________
R: VLBI, L: SLR, P: GPS, D: DORIS
Delta : Difference between local tie and Space Geodesy estimate

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