Quantitative Evaluation of Environmental Loading Induced Displacement Products for Correcting GNSS Time Series in CMONOC

Mass redistribution within the Earth system deforms the surface elastically. Loading theory allows us to predict loading induced displacement anywhere on the Earth’s surface using environmental loading models, e.g., Global Land Data Assimilation System. In addition, different publicly available loading products are available. However, there are differences among those products and the differences among the combinations of loading models cannot be ignored when precisions of better than 1 cm are required. Many scholars have applied these loading corrections to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) time series from mainland China without considering or discussing the differences between the available models. Evaluating the effects of different loading products over this region is of paramount importance for accurately removing the loading signal. In this study, we investigate the performance of these different publicly available loading products on the scatter of GNSS time series from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China. We concentrate on five different continental water storage loading models, six different non-tidal atmospheric loading models, and five different non-tidal oceanic loading models. We also investigate all the different combinations of loading products. The results show that the difference in RMS reduction can reach 20% in the vertical component depending on the loading correction applied. We then discuss the performance of different loading combinations and their effects on the noise characteristics of GNSS height time series and horizontal velocities. The results show that the loading products from NASA may be the best choice for corrections in mainland China. This conclusion could serve as an important reference for loading products users in this region. View Full-Text