Comparison of vertical deformations of the earth’s surface obtained using grace-based ggms and gnss data – A case study of South-Eastern Poland

Abstract

The development of knowledge on geodynamic processes is one of the most important issues in the Earth’s science. Over decades, geodetic techniques have been applied to study the geodynamics. The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have been reliably used for monitoring geodynamic processes. The satellite gravimetric missions such as GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) missions have provided numerous valuable information concerning temporal mass variations wi thin the Earth system which can subsequently be converted to surface deformations of the Earth. The main aim of this study is to compare vertical deformations of the Earth's surface over the area of South-Eastern Poland obtained from GNSS data with the corresponding ones determined from GRACE data. The GNSS data for the period between 2008 and 2013 from 25 permanent GNSS stations operating in South-Eastern Poland and the latest release of GRACE-based Global Geopotential Models (GGMs) were used. GNSS data and GRACE-based GGMs were processed with the GAMIT/GLOBK and the IGiK‒TVGMF (Institute of Geodesy and Cartography – Temporal Variations of Gravity/Mass Functionals) packages, respectively. The results obtained indicate that monthly vertical deformations of the Earth’s surface determined using GNSS data are generally in a good agreement with the corresponding ones obtained from GRACE satellite mission data. Coefficients of correlation between these vertical deformations range from 0.60 to 0.90 and standard deviations of their differences are in the range of 2.6 – 5.7 mm.