Correction to “Topographically induced height errors in predicted atmospheric loading effects”

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure variations are known to induce vertical displacements$\backslash{\$}nof the Earth's surface with magnitudes large enough to be detected$\backslash{\$}nby geodetic observations. Estimates of these loading effects are$\backslash{\$}nderived using global reanalysis fields of surface pressure as input.$\backslash{\$}nThe input surface pressure has a minimum spatial sampling, which$\backslash{\$}ndoes not capture true surface pressure variations due to high topographic$\backslash{\$}nvariability in some regions. In this paper, we investigate the effect$\backslash{\$}nthat unmodeled topographic variability has on surface pressure estimates$\backslash{\$}nand subsequent estimates of vertical surface displacements. We find$\backslash{\$}nthat the estimated height changes from the topographic surface pressure$\backslash{\$}ncan be significant (2–4 mm) for sites in regions of high topographic$\backslash{\$}nvariability. When we compare the estimated height changes to Global$\backslash{\$}nPositioning System residuals from the 2005 International Terrestrial$\backslash{\$}nReference Frame Realization, we find that the heights derived from$\backslash{\$}nthe topographic surface pressure, versus those from the normal surface$\backslash{\$}npressure, perform better at reducing the scatter on the height coordinate$\backslash{\$}ntime series.