Working Group Chair - Geoff Blewitt

A UNAVCO working group (referred to as GPSVEL) is being organized to synthesize data from various studies to produce a combined, consistent, high quality global GPS velocity field expanding upon the UNAVCO GPS Site Motion Vector/Crustal Velocity Archive. This task is extremely ambitious, but clearly needed. One goal of this project is to encourage the international GPS community to contribute data from their networks and campaigns. Such a high quality, self-consistent solution for station kinematics will be useful as a tectonic tool, giving motions in a rigorous global kinematic frame. The project will also ensure the quality and documentation of present GPS data for use by future generations of scientists. Already a wide range of scientists from different countries have expressed a desire to participate, and we anticipate that as this effort ramps up, others will join. The resulting velocity field will be a key input to the Global Strain Rate Map Project, a project under the International Lithosphere Program led by W. Holt, which seeks to determine a global strain rate map by combining GPS, seismological, and neotectonic data.

This effort will build on the densification projects of the International GNSS Service (IGS) and the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) International Terrestrial Reference System, which coordinate over 200 continuous GPS stations around the world. IGS analysis centers routinely produce daily estimates of GPS station positions and hence provide a robust global velocity solution. The IGS provides a methodology and standards that could be applied to the GPSVEL project (e.g., SINEX files with full documentation of a priori constraints and antenna heights). Considerable additional data will be needed, however, because IGS stations are geographically sparse and often not well located to address tectonic issues.

The working group had it's first meeting at UNAVCO in April, 1999, developing an overview of GPSVEL and addressing methodology to be taken by the working group, and GPSVEL products to date.

To participate in this effort or for more information, please contact:   Geoff Blewitt, GPSVEL Working Group Chair (gblewittunr.edu).

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Last modified Friday, 28-Jan-2011 21:10:25 UTC