Report for the IUGG National Committee, International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Geodetic Activities in Finland 2004
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Report for the IUGG National Committee, International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Geodetic activities in Finland 2004 Compiled by Markku Poutanen Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI) 1. The permanent GPS network FinnRef The Finnish Geodetic Institute hosts the permanent GPS network FinnRef which consists of 13 permanent GPS stations. The network is the backbone of the Finnish realisation of the European-wide reference frame EUREF, referred as to EUREF-FIN. Four stations in the FinnRef network belong to the EUREF permanent GPS-network (EPN), and one station belongs to the network of the International GPS Service (IGS). Through these stations FinnRef creates a connection to the global reference frames and the stations are used for maintaining global reference frames and global geodetic studies. The data recorded in the EPS stations (Metsähovi, Vaasa, Joensuu, Sodankylä) are transferred automatically to the EPN data centre in Germany. The data are also transferred daily to the Onsala Space Research Station in Sweden for the BIFROST project. Data download from four Euref-stations were changed to hourly basis at the end of 2004. In 2005 the hourly data delivery is planned. The FinnRef is also used for local studies on crustal movements as well as a reference for local and national GPS measurements. Determination of land uplift, but also studies on periodic effects on data, as well as deformation studies due to loading effects have been made using the permanent network. The absolute gravity observations were made at three GPS stations, viz. in Metsähovi, Vaasa and Joensuu with FG5 gravimeter. The absolute gravity has been observed in Metsähovi more than 80 times since 1988. A Nordic plan of NGOS, Nordic Geodetic Observing System includes plans to regularly control the gravity at the permanent GPS sites (see, gravimetric works). 2. EUREF-FIN, a national realization of the ETRF89 reference frame The Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI) has participated in national committees and working groups in order to advance the usage and help in practical questions of the new reference frame, EUREF-FIN, in Finland. Also, several lectures and presentations were given. Observations in the FinnRef network are the basis of the EUREF-FIN. Connections to the neighboring countries and international networks, and maintaining of the reference frame are the responsibilities of the FGI. 3. Real-time GPS The results of the test of GPS Virtual Reference Station (VRS) method made in 2003 in the FGI was published. The VRS concept has been used since 2000 in Finland and nowadays there are two different networks operational. A private Finnish company Geotrim Ltd. continues to establish a network to provide VRS service over the whole territory of Finland. The research on use of the VRS technique for post-processing applications, limitations, and accuracies were initiated. The goal is to study the method in geodetic and survey-related measurements 4. Gravimetric works 4.1 Absolute gravimetry In January-February 2004, FGI performed absolute gravity measurements at three Antarctic bases: Aboa (Finland), Sanae IV (South Africa), and Novolazarevskaya (Russia) with the FG5-221. Previously, FGI had measured at Aboa in 1994 and 2001. Repeated measurements are used for geodynamical studies. Single occupations provide reference values for gravity surveys. Two points were measured in South Africa, Paarl and Sutherland, one for a comparison site for the Antarctic work, and the second one, in cooperation with Geo- ForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, next to the superconducting gravimeter installation of the GFZ to give a calibration for the SG. In June 2004, FGI in cooperation with the Geological Survey Department of Ghana made an absolute gravity determination at three sites in Ghana: Accra, Bolgatanga, and Kukurantumi. This makes Ghana the fourth Sub-Saharan country that has absolute gravity stations. They will form the backbone of the new gravity reference network of Ghana. Financed by the European Commission, repeated measurements with absolute gravimeters are used to monitor the stability of the vertical position of tide gauges. FGI made a first measurement at the W_adys_awowo tide gauge, Poland, in cooperation with the Polish Space Center. The measurement will be repeated in 2005. FGI also measured two absolute stations in Zakopane, Poland, to be used as a calibration line for relative gravimeters. FGI organized the intercomparison of absolute gravimeters in Metsähovi with the FG5 gravimeters of the Institut für Erdmessung (IfE, Hannover), BKG (Bundesamt für Karto- graphie und Geodäsie, Frankfurt) (2 gravimeters), and an absolute gravimeter of Central Research Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Surveying and Cartography (TsNIIGAiK, Moscow). A bilateral comparison between IfE and the FGI took place in May in Metsähovi and in Vaasa. A trilateral comparison between IfE, the Department of Mathematical Sciences and Techno- logy (IMT, Norwegian University of Life Sciences), and FGI was performed at the Onsala Space Observatory (Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg) in October 2004. The Nordic Absolute Gravity Project was launched in 2003. It aims at producing a time series of absolute gravity measurements at about 20 Nordic sites. The time series will be compared with estimates of regional mantle inflow (due to the Fennoscandian postglacial rebound PGR) obtained from the ongoing mission of the GRACE gravity satellite. As a by-product, a highly accurate gravity reference network with estimates of gravity change rates will be produced. The absolute measurements are performed by IfE, IMT, BKG, and FGI, in cooperation with the Danish Space Center, the Norwegian Mapping Authority, and Lantmäteriet (Sweden). In 2004 FGI observed at 5 sites. The project is coordinated by the Working Group for Geodynamics of the Nordic Geodetic Commission (NKG), as a part of the Nordic Geodetic Observing System (NGOS) of the NKG. 4.2 Relative gravimetry A new relative gravimeter, Scintrex CG5 purchased in the FGI at the end of the year 2003 was tested. Calibration line Masala-Vihti was maintained, and a local dense gravity network was measured at the Metsähovi observatory, in the vicinity of the superconducting gravimeter to improve the local modelling of the gravity field. Gravity/PGR (Postglacial rebound) studies have been performed in Nordic cooperation since 1966, using relative measurements on the Fennoscandian Land Uplift Gravity Lines. Measurements 1966–2003 yields the relationship –1.7 ± 0.5 nm s–2/mm between gravity change and vertical motion relative to the Earth’s centre of mass. This corresponds closely to the theoretical “Bouguer model” of the PGR process. That model assumes a viscously near- incompressible Earth where the current PGR is caused by inflow of formerly displaced mass in the mantle. The repeated absolute gravity measurements performed by FGI, BKG, and the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 12 sites in the PGR area 1988–2003 are currently being collected and they will be published. 4.3 Superconducting gravimetry The superconducting gravimeter GWR T020 at Metsähovi has been operational since August 1994. It participates the GGP (Global geodynamics project), where 20 SG’s are deployed worldwide. In addition to the gravity data, the recordings consist of air pressure, groundwater level and precipitation. Studies of gravity data comprise the gravity spectrum from micro- seism to Chandlerian period. The research work has been focused on loading effects from air pressure field and the Baltic Sea. Use of the superconducting gravimeter for hydrological studies is investigated in cooperation with the Helsinki University of Technology (Department of Rock Engineering), Finnish Environment Institute, and the Geological Survey of Finland. Modelling of the Influence of Atmospheric Masses and Baltic Sea Level on Gravity in cooperation with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Finnish Institute of Marine Research continued. The detailed HIRLAM (High Resolution Limited Area Model) air pressure grid gives gravity correction models that during special events like the passage of strong anticyclones differ up to 10 nm s–2 from simple regression models. This improves the detection and modelling of signals correlated with air pressure, e.g. Baltic Sea level variations. FGI participated in global and European studies where the variation in surface gravity observed pointwise with the SGs is correlated with variation in regional gravity observed with the satellites CHAMP and GRACE, and with the variation in regional gravity predicted from global models of terrestrial water storage. On the whole, an unexpectedly good correlation was found. 4.4 Satellite gravimetry A study using data of gravimetric satellites CHAMP and GRACE was continued. FGI has the co-investigator status of the CHAMP satellite, which opend the possibility to use the CHAMP data products. Data of GRACE was also used in order to study monthly loading variation on the crust. The time series obtained with the absolute gravimetres on the Nordic gravimetric project (see above, absolute gravimety) will be compared with estimates of regional mantle inflow (due to the Fennoscandian postglacial rebound PGR) obtained from the ongoing mission of the GRACE gravity satellite. Co-operation with the University of Stuttgart continued on estimation of the geopotential value W0. The study was partly funded by the Academy of Finland. 5. Precise levelling and height system The field work of the Third Precise Levelling