scholarly journals Results of GPS reprocessing campaign (1996-2011) provided by Geodetic observatory Pecný

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Douša ◽  
Pavel Václavovic

The paper presents the GOP first reprocessing results, which officially contributed to the EPN-repro1 project. It also describes the 15-year GOP cumulative solution providing station coordinates, velocities and their discontinuities over the period of 1996-2011. Repeatabilities estimated from cleaned long-term coordinate time-series reached 1-2 mm and 4-6 mm in horizontal and vertical component, respectively. We then showed the exploitation of GOP reprocessing results in the assessment of the EUREF ITRF2005 densification and the latest ITRS realization, ITRF2008. We identified and confirmed the North-South tilt (≈ 2mas) in the currently available European reference frame based on the EPN cumulative solution updated in GPS week 1600. The study showed a historical development of the tilt and its close relation to a weak velocity datum definition of this realization, which is very important for a long-term datum prediction. Selected EPN station coordinates, velocities and discontinuities of the latest ITRS realization (ITRF2008) were also assessed. Specific problems for some EPN stations were identified in the global reference frame. This emphasized further necessity to check all the stations before their use for datum definition for regional densifications.

Ocean Science ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Henry-Edwards ◽  
M. Tomczak

Abstract. A water mass analysis method based on a constrained minimization technique is developed to derive water property changes in water mass formation regions from oceanographic station data taken at significant distance from the formation regions. The method is tested with two synthetic data sets, designed to mirror conditions in the North Atlantic at the Bermuda BATS time series station. The method requires careful definition of constraints before it produces reliable results. It is shown that an analysis of the error fields under different constraint assumptions can identify which properties vary most over the period of the observations. The method reproduces the synthetic data sets extremely well if all properties other than those that are identified as undergoing significant variations are held constant during the minimization.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1389-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. De Vita ◽  
V. Allocca ◽  
F. Manna ◽  
S. Fabbrocino

Abstract. Thus far, studies on climate change have focused mainly on the variability of the atmospheric and surface components of the hydrologic cycle, investigating the impact of this variability on the environment, especially with respect to the risks of desertification, droughts and floods. Conversely, the impacts of climate change on the recharge of aquifers and on the variability of groundwater flow have been less investigated, especially in Mediterranean karst areas whose water supply systems depend heavily upon groundwater exploitation. In this paper, long-term climatic variability and its influence on groundwater recharge were analysed by examining decadal patterns of precipitation, air temperature and spring discharges in the Campania region (southern Italy), coupled with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The time series of precipitation and air temperature were gathered over 90 yr, from 1921 to 2010, using 18 rain gauges and 9 air temperature stations with the most continuous functioning. The time series of the winter NAO index and of the discharges of 3 karst springs, selected from those feeding the major aqueducts systems, were collected for the same period. Regional normalised indexes of the precipitation, air temperature and karst spring discharges were calculated, and different methods were applied to analyse the related time series, including long-term trend analysis using smoothing numerical techniques, cross-correlation and Fourier analysis. The investigation of the normalised indexes highlighted the existence of long-term complex periodicities, from 2 to more than 30 yr, with differences in average values of up to approximately ±30% for precipitation and karst spring discharges, which were both strongly correlated with the winter NAO index. Although the effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) had already been demonstrated in the long-term precipitation and streamflow patterns of different European countries and Mediterranean areas, the results of this study allow for the establishment of a link between a large-scale atmospheric cycle and the groundwater recharge of carbonate karst aquifers. Consequently, the winter NAO index could also be considered as a proxy to forecast the decadal variability of groundwater flow in Mediterranean karst areas.


Author(s):  
Christos N. Stefanakos

In the present work, return periods of various level values of significant wave height in the Gulf of Mexico are given. The predictions are based on a new method for nonstationary extreme-value calculations that have recently been published. This enhanced method exploits efficiently the nonstationary modeling of wind or wave time series and a new definition of return period using the MEan Number of Upcrossings of the level value x* (MENU method). The whole procedure is applied to long-term measurements of wave height in the Gulf of Mexico. Two kinds of data have been used: long-term time series of buoy measurements, and satellite altimeter data. Measured time series are incomplete and a novel procedure for filling in of missing values is applied before proceeding with the extreme-value calculations. Results are compared with several variants of traditional methods, giving more realistic estimates than the traditional predictions. This is in accordance with the results of other methods that take also into account the dependence structure of the examined time series.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (11) ◽  
pp. 2293-2313 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Zajdel ◽  
K. Sośnica ◽  
M. Drożdżewski ◽  
G. Bury ◽  
D. Strugarek

Abstract The Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) network struggles with some major limitations including an inhomogeneous global station distribution and uneven performance of SLR sites. The International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) prepares the time-variable list of the most well-performing stations denoted as ‘core sites’ and recommends using them for the terrestrial reference frame (TRF) datum realization in SLR processing. Here, we check how different approaches of the TRF datum realization using minimum constraint conditions (MCs) and the selection of datum-defining stations affect the estimated SLR station coordinates, the terrestrial scale, Earth rotation parameters (ERPs), and geocenter coordinates (GCC). The analyses are based on the processing of the SLR observations to LAGEOS-1/-2 collected between 2010 and 2018. We show that it is essential to reject outlying stations from the reference frame realization to maintain a high quality of SLR-based products. We test station selection criteria based on the Helmert transformation of the network w.r.t. the a priori SLRF2014 coordinates to reject misbehaving stations from the list of datum-defining stations. The 25 mm threshold is optimal to eliminate the epoch-wise temporal deviations and to provide a proper number of datum-defining stations. According to the station selection algorithm, we found that some of the stations that are not included in the list of ILRS core sites could be taken into account as potential core stations in the TRF datum realization. When using a robust station selection for the datum definition, we can improve the station coordinate repeatability by 8%, 4%, and 6%, for the North, East and Up components, respectively. The global distribution of datum-defining stations is also crucial for the estimation of ERPs and GCC. When excluding just two core stations from the SLR network, the amplitude of the annual signal in the GCC estimates is changed by up to 2.2 mm, and the noise of the estimated pole coordinates is substantially increased.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 813-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B Thorpe ◽  
José A A De Oliveira

Abstract Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is a well-established concept that is mandated by legislation, and has a clear theoretical meaning in terms of a single stock. However, its definition is problematic in a multispecies setting, which makes it more difficult to apply the MSY principle. In this study of the North Sea fish community, we consider several possible MSY candidates, and evaluate them in terms of their ability to produce optimum long-term yield whilst avoiding unacceptable risk of stock impairment. We perform this evaluation with an ensemble of size-structured models using a management strategy evaluation approach, in which harvest control rules (HCRs) are used to determine levels of fishing as a function of the proposed MSY target and stock status, taking account of recruitment and model parameter uncertainties. We find that HCRs of the type considered here are always useful in the scenarios we tested, as they reduce overfishing risk much more than average long-term yield. This is independent of the precise form of the HCR, so it is more important to implement one rigorously than obsess over the rule details. For a lax definition of overfishing, which accepts relatively severe stock depletion (B < 10% B0), and using HCRs, risks are “low” across all strategies, and the Nash equilibrium is the best performing MSY approach considered here. For more stringent definitions of “at risk” (e.g. likelihood of B < 20% of B0), the application of HCRs can allow a range of alternative formulations of MSY. Thus, the definition of MSY may be sensitive to judgements about acceptable levels of risk, and consistent application of a sensible management framework may be more important than developing the best possible theoretical definition of MSY.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1467-1479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Hughes ◽  
N. Penny Holliday ◽  
Eugene Colbourne ◽  
Vladimir Ozhigin ◽  
Hedinn Valdimarsson ◽  
...  

Abstract Hughes, S. L., Holliday, N. P., Colbourne, E., Ozhigin, V., Valdimarsson, H., Østerhus, S., and Wiltshire, K. 2009. Comparison of in situ time-series of temperature with gridded sea surface temperature datasets in the North Atlantic. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1467–1479. Analysis of the effects of climate variability and climate change on the marine ecosystem is difficult in regions where long-term observations of ocean temperature are sparse or unavailable. Gridded sea surface temperature (SST) products, based on a combination of satellite and in situ observations, can be used to examine variability and long-term trends because they provide better spatial coverage than the limited sets of long in situ time-series. SST data from three gridded products (Reynolds/NCEP OISST.v2., Reynolds ERSST.v3, and the Hadley Centre HadISST1) are compared with long time-series of in situ measurements from ICES standard sections in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas. The variability and trends derived from the two data sources are examined, and the usefulness of the products as a proxy for subsurface conditions is discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 11233-11275
Author(s):  
P. De Vita ◽  
V. Allocca ◽  
F. Manna ◽  
S. Fabbrocino

Abstract. Climate change is one of the issues most debated by the scientific community with a special focus to the combined effects of anthropogenic modifications of the atmosphere and the natural climatic cycles. Various scenarios have been formulated in order to forecast the global atmospheric circulation and consequently the variability of the global distribution of air temperature and rainfall. The effects of climate change have been analysed with respect to the risks of desertification, droughts and floods, remaining mainly limited to the atmospheric and surface components of the hydrologic cycle. Consequently the impact of the climate change on the recharge of regional aquifers and on the groundwater circulation is still a challenging topic especially in those areas whose aqueduct systems depend basically on springs or wells, such as the Campania region (Southern Italy). In order to analyse the long-term climatic variability and its influence on groundwater circulation, we analysed decadal patterns of precipitation, air temperature and spring discharges in the Campania region (Southern Italy), coupled with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The time series of precipitation and air temperature were gathered over 90 yr, in the period from 1921 to 2010, choosing 18 rain gauges and 9 air temperature stations among those with the most continuous functioning as well as arranged in a homogeneous spatial distribution. Moreover, for the same period, we gathered the time series of the winter NAO index (December to March mean) and of the discharges of the Sanità spring, belonging to an extended carbonate aquifer (Cervialto Mount) located in the central-eastern area of the Campania region, as well as of two other shorter time series of spring discharges. The hydrogeological features of this aquifer, its relevance due to the feeding of an important regional aqueduct system, as well as the unique availability of a long-lasting time series of spring discharges, allowed us to consider it as an ideal test site, representative of the other carbonate aquifers in the Campania region. The time series of regional normalised indexes of mean annual precipitation, mean annual air temperature and mean annual effective precipitation, as well as the time series of the normalised annual discharge index were calculated. Different methods were applied to analyse the time series: long-term trend analysis, through smoothing numerical techniques, cross-correlation and Fourier analysis. The investigation of the normalised indexes has highlighted long-term complex periodicities, strongly correlated with the winter NAO index. Moreover, we also found robust correlations among precipitation indexes and the annual discharge index, as well as between the latter and the NAO index itself. Although the effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation had already been proved on long-term precipitation and streamflow patterns of different European countries and Mediterranean areas, the results obtained appear original because they establish a link between a large-scale atmospheric cycle and the groundwater circulation of regional aquifers. Therefore, we demonstrated that the winter NAO index can be considered as an effective proxy to forecast the decadal variability of groundwater circulation in Mediterranean areas and in estimating critical scenarios for the feeding of aqueduct systems.


Author(s):  
G. C. Hays ◽  
A. J. Warner

The mean annual towing speed of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) varied systematically between 1946 and 1991. By mounting a pressure transducer on the CPR to record towing depth, it was shown, however, that changes in towing speed did not cause a significant change in towing depth, although the mean towing depth (6–7 m, SD=l-7 m, N=77) was shallower than the previously assumed towing depth of 10 m. Thus the observed changes in towing speed are unlikely to have caused discontinuities in the CPR time-series by affecting sampling depth.Long-term data sets play an important role in attempts to understand the causes of fluctua- tions in plankton abundance. The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey provides multi- decadal information on plankton abundance in the North Sea and North Atlantic (McGowan, 1990), and is one of the longest standing marine plankton abundance time-series. However, while the CPR time-series has great potential, as with all other data sets spanning many years, questions may be asked regarding the consistency with which the data have been collected and hence the true continuity of the time-series.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Fenoglio-Marc ◽  
Bernd Uebbing ◽  
Jürgen Kusche ◽  
Salvatore Dinardo

<p>A significant part of the World population lives in the coastal zone, which is affected by coastal sea level rise and extreme events. Our hypothesis is that the most accurate sea level height measurements are derived from the Synthetic Aperture Altimetry (SAR) mode. This study analyses the output of dedicated processing and assesses their impacts on the sea level change of the North-Eastern Atlantic. </p><p>It will be shown that SAR altimetry reduces the minimum usable distance from five to three kilometres when the dedicated coastal retrackers SAMOSA+ and SAMOSA++ are applied to data processed in SAR mode. A similar performance is achieved with altimeter data processed in pseudo low resolution mode (PLRM) when the Spatio-Temporal Altimeter sub-waveform Retracker (STAR) is used. Instead the Adaptive Leading Edge Sub-waveform retracker (TALES) applied to PLRM is less performant. SAR processed altimetry can recover the sea level heights with 4 cm accuracy up to 3-4 km distance to coast. Thanks to the low noise of SAR mode data, the instantaneous SAR and in-situ data have the highest agreement, with the smallest standard deviation of differences and the highest correlation. A co-location of the altimeter data near the tide gauge is the best choice for merging in-situ and altimeter data. The r.m.s. (root mean squared) differences between altimetry and in-situ heights remain large in estuaries and in coastal zone with high tidal regimes, which are still challenging regions. The geophysical parameters derived from CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3A measurements have similar accuracy, but the different repeat cycle of the two missions locally affects the constructed time-series.</p><p>The impact of these new SAR observations in climate change studies is assessed by evaluating regional and local time series of sea level. At distances to coast smaller than 10 Kilometers the sea level change derived from SAR and LRM data is in good agreement. The long-term sea level variability derived from monthly time-series of LRM altimetry and of land motion-corrected tide gauges agrees within 1 mm/yr for half of in-situ German stations. The long-term sea level variability derived from SAR data show a similar behaviour with increasing length of the time series.</p><p> </p>


1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 2203-2212
Author(s):  
C. K. Ross ◽  
G. T. Needler

Oceanographic observations taken at Ocean Station "P" (50°N, 145°W) provide one of the few long oceanographic time series. The intermittent nature of the sampling program at Station "P," however, presents problems for a standard time-series analysis. In this paper the seriousness of this aspect of the data is discussed and spectral estimates are obtained for the potential temperature, potential density anomaly, and dynamic height anomaly at several depths. We found that the lowest frequency estimates of dynamic height anomaly are approximately an order of magnitude less than those obtained from a similar station in the North Atlantic. This is consistent with a more rapid falloff of energy with depth at Station "P".


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