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The DTRF2020 is the ITRS 2020 realization of the ITRS CC at DGFI-TUM.It was published earlier this year. The calculation of the DTRF2020 is based on a two-step approach: First, after a data pre-analysis, one TRF (normal equation system, NEQ) per technique, i.e. VLBI, SLR, GNSS and DORIS, is calculated. Second, the TRF NEQs are combined to the DTRF2020 solution. For the first time, all previously modeled non-tidal loading (NTL) components provided by IERS GGFC, i.e., the atmospheric, hydrological, and oceanic parts, are considered to reduce NTL signals in the station motions from the input NEQ. Post-seismic deformation (PSD) signals in station position time series are approximated by combinations of logarithmic and exponential functions and reduced from the NEQ in the same way as the NTL signals in the first step of our approach. The published dataset includes the DTRF2020 solution itself, i.e., station positions at the reference epoch 2010.0 and station velocities, as well as the consistently estimated EOP series. In addition, the model-based NTL time series used in the DTRF2020 calculation, the parameters of the PSD approximation functions, and the corresponding time series of the approximation signal considered in DTRF2020 (over the DTRF2020 time period) are provided for the users. Furthermore, residual time series of station positions and SLR translation time series are made available (the latter indicate the deviation of the instantaneous from the mean center of mass realized in DTRF2020). In this presentation, we discuss the final results of DTRF2020 and give an overview of the DTRF2020 dataset and the features it provides for its application. We also discuss the consistency of DTRF2020 with respect to its predecessor DTRF2014 and the limits of accuracy of reference frames. Further, we address the need for consistency with respect to datasets that will be used in DTRF2020 applications, such as the SLR Data Handling File and GNSS satellite PCV.

The Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) is a collaborative contribution of the global geodesy community to the observation and monitoring of the Earth System. Geodetic observation techniques and analysis infrastructures, as well as the high-quality geodetic products, provide the foundation upon which advances in Earth and planetary system sciences and applications are built.One main objective of GGOS is to support actions and initiatives to communicate the value of Geodesy to society, as well as help to understand and solve complex issues facing the global geodetic community. Towards this objective, GGOS has completely redesigned its website, www.ggos.org, which serves as a “point of entry to geodesy” to facilitate discoverability and usability of geodetic data and products. This includes explanations about: IAG services, geodetic observations and geodetic products. With this, GGOS engages with diverse user communities to increase awareness of geodesy and the ever-expanding benefits of geodesy in every-day applications.In addition, GGOS recently produced short videos to explain the applications and importance of geodesy to non-geodesists. The new “Discover GGOS and Geodesy” video is available on YouTube in multiple languages.

The ITRS CC at the Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut of the Technical University of Munich (DGFI-TUM) has created the new DTRF website https://dtrf.dgfi.tum.de. On this site, DGFI-TUM provides background information and data access to the current and all previous DTRF solutions. In particular, the DTRF2020 processing strategy is presented and the results are described and explained. In addition to the actual solution, the DTRF2020 release contains further datasets that are necessary for a highly accurate application of the DTRF2020. The website clearly presents and makes available all datasets, partly map-based. Our poster gives an overview of the new DTRF website and provides examples of its use.

High-resolution regional applications require regional reference frames with dense networks of reference stations. These regional reference frames can be realised in the form of multi-year reference frames (that can be fixed to a specific tectonic plate like EUREF for Europe) or as epoch reference frames to represent non-linear phenomena such as earthquakes or loading effects (like SIRGAS for Latin America). Common to these realisations is that they are based on GNSS networks with a geodetic datum that is realised by alignment to the global reference frame (ITRF or IGS TRF).In consequence, the origin of these networks reflects the Earth’s centre of figure rather than the Earth’s instantaneous centre of mass. Moreover, the quality of the realised datum decreases over time, as the linearly-parameterised coordinates of the global reference frame have to be extrapolated beyond the observation period. These effects mean a significantly reduced value of station-specific displacement time series for the study of, e.g., local geophysical effects.This study presents an alternative approach for the realisation of a regional epoch reference frame for Latin America. The approach is based on the common weekly solution of global SLR, VLBI and GNSS networks combined at the normal equation level. Thereby, SLR determines the origin, SLR and VLBI jointly determine the scale, and a homogeneously distributed global GNSS network is used to realise the orientation. This GNSS network is densified by the stations of the regional sub-network, namely the stations of the Latin American SIRGAS network. The approach does not necessarily rely on fiducial points in the region of interest, which means that it is conceptually transferrable to other regional networks.In order to cope with system-specific deficiencies of SLR and VLBI, namely data gaps, low station performances and frequently changing observational networks deteriorating the realised datum parameters, we propose a strategy to stabilise the realised datum via filtering the input data of these techniques at the normal equation level before combination with GNSS.We evaluate the realised datum of the epoch-wise weekly solutions by comparison against the ITRF2014 as an independent multi-year realisation of the ITRS and against the JTRF2014 as an independent sub-secular realisation of the ITRS. Moreover, station-specific displacement time series are validated against non-tidal loading displacement time series derived from geophysical fluid models provided by ESMGFZ in order to demonstrate that the displacement time series reflect seasonal geophysical processes in a geocentric frame.

The Bureau of Products and Standards (BPS) is a key component of the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). It supports GGOS in its goal to provide consistent geodetic products needed to monitor, map, and understand changes in the Earth’s shape, rotation, and gravity field. In its current structure, the Committees “Contributions to Earth System Modeling” and “Definition of Essential Geodetic Variables” as well as the Working Group “Towards a consistent set of parameters for the definition of a new Geodetic Reference System (GRS)” are associated to the BPS. This poster contribution presents the role of the BPS and it highlights some of the recent activities, which are focused on the updating of the IERS Conventions, mainly related to Chapter 1 "General definitions and numerical standards", the updating of the BPS inventory of standards and conventions used for the generation of IAG products to incorporate the latest developments in the field, the compilation of user-friendly descriptions of geodetic products published at the GGOS website, and the contribution to GGOS films for specific products. The BPS activities also comprise the interaction with IAG and other entities in the field of standards and conventions, such as the IAG Services, the IERS Conventions Center, the Commission A3 “Fundamental Standards” of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), ISO/TC 211 and the Working Group ``Data Sharing and Development of Geodetic Standards” of the UN-GGIM Subcommittee on Geodesy (SCoG).

At the beginning of the year 2023, the DTRF2020, the ITRS 2020 realization of DGFI-TUM was completed. In this presentation, we closely look at the results of the analysis of the DTRF2020 Earth Orientation Parameter (EOP) series. First, we examine the impact of accounting for non-tidal loading on the EOP time series of each observation technique. In particular, changes in the annual and semi-annual signals of the EOP series can be expected, as both frequencies are dominant in the non-tidal loading displacements of the observing stations. We analyze the combined DTRF2020 EOP time series in terms of their temporal changes and their sensitivity to the contributing techniques, and we compare them to reference series such as IERS Bulletin A, IERS 20 C04, and SPACE 2018 (or a later version). Furthermore, we investigate the achieved consistency with the ITRF2020 and JTRF2020 in terms of the EOP, since these solutions have been computed from the same input data. A comparison with the DTRF2014 EOP reflects the consistency of successive DTRF solutions., The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023)

The accurate knowledge of the Earth’s orientation and rotation in space is essential for a broad variety of scientific and societal applications. Among others, these include global positioning, near-Earth and deep-space navigation, the realisation of precise reference and time systems as well as studies of geodynamics and global change phenomena. In this paper, we present a refined strategy for processing and combining Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) observations at the normal equation level and formulate recommendations for a consistent processing of the space-geodetic input data. Based on the developed strategy, we determine final and rapid Earth rotation parameter (ERP) solutions with low latency that also serve as the basis for a subsequent prediction of ERPs involving effective angular momentum data. Realising final ERPs on an accuracy level comparable to the final ERP benchmark solutions IERS 14C04 and JPL COMB2018, our strategy allows to enhance the consistency between final, rapid and predicted ERPs in terms of RMS differences by up to 50% compared to existing solutions. The findings of the study thus support the ambitious goals of the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) in providing highly accurate and consistent time series of geodetic parameters for science and applications.

Among the continuous (CONT) campaigns of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), CONT17 is a special CONT campaign which comprises three independent networks: two legacy networks, and one VGOS network to mainly check possible biases in network geometry. In this study, we estimate all types of geodetic parameters (station and source coordinates, and Earth orientation parameters (EOP)) within the single networks and compare them to investigate potential network dependent biases. Since the separate networks are technically linked to each other by common parameters, i.e. EOP and common radio source coordinates, they can be regarded as a single network on the Earth and integrated in one common adjustment. Thus, we also estimate the station and source coordinates, and the EOP from the integrated networks and compare them with those of the single networks to check the impact on the geodetic parameters. There are both subtle and large biases (up to 7.1 mm between the legacy networks in the Ty component and 23.3 mm between the legacy and VGOS networks in the $$D_3$$ D 3 component on the surface of the Earth) between the single networks depending on parameter types. The integrated network eventually compensates those differences. Adding the VGOS network to the legacy networks does not show any significant improvement for the latter. However, the integration can provide the VGOS network with better parameter estimates which is important for the new stations.

As one of the ITRS Combination Centres of the IERS, DGFI-TUM is in charge of computing an ITRS 2020 realisation. Since the ITRS 2014 realisation, many innovations have occurred. These include the six years longer observation period, but also new observation stations and satellites, and the use of refined background models in the analysis of the space-geodetic techniques. In addition, the combination strategy of the DTRF has also been improved. Namely, non-tidal loading (NTL) corrections over the full observation period and for all three components (atmospheric, hydrological and oceanic) are taken into account, as well as modelled post-seismic deformations (PSD). Both corrections are carried out - according to the combination strategy of DGFI-TUM - on the level of the normal equation (NEQ) by reducing each input NEQ.Due to all the improvements mentioned above, ranging from observation to analysis and combination, it can be assumed that all ITRS 2020 realisations are not only more up-to-date but also more accurate than their predecessors. In the presentation, we demonstrate the DTRF2020 solution as well as first comparisons and analyses. We will also present the DTRF2020 release which will include SINEX files and an EOP file, plus the time series of SLR translations, NTL and PSD corrections, and station position residuals.

This presentation gives a summary of the role and the activities of the Bureau of Products and Standards (BPS) to support IAG’s Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) in its goal to provide observations and consistent geodetic products needed to monitor, map and understand changes in the Earth’s shape, rotation and mass distribution. In its present structure, the two Committees “Earth System Modeling” and “Essential Geodetic Variables” as well as the Working Group “Towards a consistent set of parameters for the definition of a new GRS” are associated with the BPS. A key objective of the BPS is to keep track and to foster homogenization of adopted geodetic standards and conventions across all IAG components as a fundamental basis for the generation of consistent geometric and gravimetric products. Towards this aim, an updated 2nd version of the BPS inventory of standards and conventions used for the generation of IAG products has been published in the Geodesist’s Handbook 2020. In the framework of the renewing of the GGOS website, the BPS supports the GGOS Coordinating Office in particular regarding the representation of geodetic products. Furthermore, the BPS contributes to the rewriting of the IERS Conventions as Chapter Expert for Chapter 1 “General definitions and numerical standards” and interacts with external stakeholders regarding standards and conventions, such as ISO, IAU, BIPM, CODATA and the UN GGIM Subcommittee on Geodesy, including its Working Group “Data Sharing and Development of Geodetic Standards”.

The new ITRS realization, the ITRF2020, will be computed and released in 2021. Many institutions contributing to the international IAG services IGS, IVS, ILRS and IDS did work hard during the last months to finalize the ITRF2020 input data until mid of February 2021. The resulting data are series of SINEX files of daily or weekly global GNSS, VLBI, SLR and DORIS solutions. The ITRS Combination Centres (CC) are in charge of the computation of three ITRS realizations based on a combination of these input data. The three realizations can be seen as independent to some extent, as the combination strategies realized by the three CC partly differ considerably. This provides the opportunity of a cross-validation between the computed frames and ensures a high reliability of the final ITRF product. The ITRS CC will start in February 2021 with the analysis of the final input data series and their combination.We will present first results of the analyses and computations performed at ITRS CC DGFI-TUM.

Die moderne Satellitengeodasie liefert uns eine Fulle an Beobachtungsdaten, die uns Informationen uber eine Vielzahl an Prozessen im System Erde liefern. Teilweise tragen diese Prozesse ein erhebliches Zerstorungspotenzial in sich, und somit ist die kontinuierliche Erfassung von kleinsten Veranderungen von groser Bedeutung. Die trage Bewegung tektonischer Platten von einigen Millimetern bis Zentimetern pro Jahr kann plotzliche Erdbeben mit Deformationen von mehreren Metern auslosen. Erdbeben im Ozean konnen Tsunamis verursachen, die beim Auftreffen auf die Kuste eine mindestens so grose zerstorerische Kraft haben wie das Erdbeben selbst. Wesentlich gemachlichere, aber langfristig nicht minder bedrohliche Vorgange zeigen sich in den Weltmeeren durch Veranderungen der Meeresoberflache. Wir messen fur den Meeresspiegelanstieg einen globalen Durchschnittswert von mehr als 3 Millimetern pro Jahr, allerdings mit grosen regionalen Unterschieden. Durch unterschiedliche geodatische Messverfahren konnen wir sogar die Schuldigen dafur identifizieren. Einer der Hauptdelinquenten sind die grosen Eisschilde in Gronland und der Antarktis, die zusammen aktuell fast 500 Gigatonnen an Eismasse pro Jahr an die Ozeane verlieren. Grose Wassermassenveranderungen beobachten wir auch in den Kontinenten, beispielsweise durch grosraumige Veranderung von Grundwasserstanden. Das Verstandnis des globalen Wasserkreislaufs ist hinsichtlich der Verfugbarkeit von Trink- und Nutzwasser gesellschaftlich hochst relevant, genauso wie das Schadenspotenzial durch Fluten und Durren. Viele dieser Phanomene sind Indikatoren fur nachhaltige Veranderungen im Klimasystem unseres Planeten.

Heute sind wir mit modernen geodatischen Beobachtungsverfahren in der Lage, die geometrische Figur, das Rotationsverhalten und das Schwerefeld der Erde sowie deren zeitliche Veranderungen mit extrem hoher Genauigkeit aus dem Weltraum zu vermessen. Als Grundlage dafur benotigen wir einen globalen und langzeitstabilen Bezug: ein geodatisches Referenzsystem. Milliarden von Nutzern schatzen das Potenzial globaler Satellitennavigationssysteme (GNSS), deren Einsatzbereiche in den vergangenen Jahren geradezu explodiert sind, und die unseren Alltag tief durchdrungen haben. Neben GNSS gibt es aber noch weitere Beobachtungsverfahren, die fur die Vermessung unseres Planeten von zentraler Bedeutung sind. Dazu gehoren Laserentfernungsmessungen, mit denen Satellitenbahnen und Positionen auf der Erde hochgenau bestimmt werden konnen. Die Radioastronomie ermoglicht durch den Empfang von Radiosignalen entfernter Galaxien die prazise Bestimmung der Orientierung unseres Planeten im Weltraum. Die Satellitenaltimetrie vermisst mit einem aktiven Radarsystem die Meeresoberflache zentimetergenau und kann damit auch Veranderungen des Meeresspiegels zuverlassig bestimmen. Satellitenmissionen zur Vermessung des Erdschwerefeldes liefern wichtige Informationen, um die Massenverteilung der Erde und Massentransportprozesse wie das Abschmelzen der Eisschilde zu detektieren.

Die hochgenauen Satellitendaten liefern wertvolle Beitrage fur ein weitgefachertes Aufgabenspektrum unserer modernen Gesellschaft. Ein fundamentales geodatisches Produkt sind globale Referenzrahmen, die einen einheitlichen Bezug fur alle raumbezogenen Daten (Geoinformationen) weltweit gewahrleisten. Dies ist unabdingbar fur alle Positionierungsaufgaben, die Satellitennavigation sowie ein genaues Kataster-, Land- und Ressourcenmanagement. Die prazisen Satellitenbeobachtungen sind ebenso unverzichtbar, um die Veranderungen unseres Planeten verlasslich zu erfassen und auf diese Weise wichtige Informationen fur die Erforschung des Erdsystems zu generieren. Die geodatischen Beobachtungen liefern die Grundlage fur die Bestimmung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels sowie fur die Entwicklung und den Betrieb von Warnsystemen zum Schutz vor Naturgefahren. Drei gesellschaftlich besonders relevante Themenbereiche werden naher beleuchtet: die Satellitennavigation, die Erdsystemforschung und der Klimawandel. Mit Interviewbeitragen der renommierten Fachexperten Gunter Hein, Harald Lesch und Stefan Rahmstorf wird die satellitenbasierte Sicht „von oben“ durch deren Einblicke „von ausen“ wesentlich erweitert.

Das Jahr 1957 markiert einen wichtigen Meilenstein in der Entwicklungsgeschichte der Geodasie: Mit dem Start des ersten kunstlichen Satelliten Sputnik 1 wird die Vermessung der Erde geradezu revolutioniert. Die Geodasie ist eine der altesten Wissenschaften der Welt. Ihre Anfange liegen bereits um etwa 8000 v.Chr., als die Menschen begannen, landwirtschaftliche Flachen zu bewirtschaften. Fruhe Hochkulturen in Agypten und Mesopotamien verfeinern ihre vermessungstechnischen Fertigkeiten, und im alten Rom waren Bauprojekte wie Brucken, Tunnel und Wasserleitungen ohne Geodasie undenkbar. Mindestens ebenso alt ist die Frage nach der Form der Erde: Scheibe, Kugel oder Ellipsoid? Auf dem Weg zur Klarung dieser Frage begegnen uns die wohl grosten Namen in der Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften: Galilei, Kepler, Newton, Gaus, Humboldt, Helmert und letztlich auch Einstein. Abenteuerliche, jahrelange Expeditionen in abgelegene Lander werden durchgefuhrt, um die Abplattung der Erde an den Polen zu bestimmen. Letztlich konnte diese aus wenigen Wochen an Sputnik-Bahndaten viel genauer ermittelt werden als es davor in jahrtausendelangen Bemuhungen gelungen ist.

Traditionally, sea level is observed at tide gauge stations, which usually also serve as height reference stations for national levelling networks and therefore define a height system of a country. Thus, sea level research across countries is closely linked to height system unification and needs to be regarded jointly. The project aims to make use of a new observation technique, namely SAR positioning, which can help to connect the GNSS basic network of a country to tide gauge stations and as such to link the sea level records of tide gauge stations to the geometric network. By knowing the geoid heights at the tide gauge stations in a global height reference frame with high precision, one can finally obtain absolute sea level heights of the tide gauge stations in a common reference system and can link them together. By this method, on the one hand national height systems can be connected and on the other hand the absolute sea level at the tide gauge stations can be determined. By analyzing time series of absolute sea level heights their changes can be determined in an absolute sense in a global reference frame and the impact of climate change on sea level can be quantified (e.g. by ice sheet and glacier melting, water inflow, global warming). The paper presents the main scientific questions to be addressed by the project, introduces the idea of using SAR transponders for this application and describes the observation network implemented for this feasibility study.

For the ITRS realization 2020 input data series of high quality from SLR, VLBI, GNSS and DORIS will be provided by the respective Technique Services ILRS, IVS, IGS and IDS. The observation data are currently reprocessed applying agreed state-of-the-art models. Between ITRF2014 and the ITRS realization 2020, many model changes had to be implemented for the individual techniques which nearly all have an impact on the realized scale. To mention the most important ones: (i) For SLR, estimated mean range biases will be introduced for each station and satellite. (ii) In VLBI analysis, the gravitational deformation of the telescopes will be considered for some stations. (iii) In GNSS analysis, highly-precise Galileo satellite phase center calibrations allow for the realization of the scale from Galileo observations. Calibrating GPS phase center corrections accordingly might even allow for a scale realization from the complete GNSS time series history. (iv) In case of DORIS, which was not involved in the ITRS scale realization up to now (as wasn’t GNSS), a new antenna type and changes in elevation cut-off and observation down-weighting will also have an impact on the scale.It is a fact, that many of the model changes are not analyzed in detail with respect to their impact on the ITRF scale, and neither is the combination of model changes. The situation is even more complex since the ITRS realizations 2014, ITRF2014 on the one hand and DTRF2014 and JTRF2014 on the other hand, differ significantly with respect to the realized scale.The poster summarizes and categorizes the various model changes and their impact on the scale. It critically discusses the new situation, which is a challenge for ITRS 2020 scale realization and will lead to significant differences between ITRF2020 and its predecessor ITRF2014.

In this paper, we consistently estimate geodetic parameters such as weekly 3-D station coordinates, Earth orientation parameters (EOP) including daily x/y-pole coordinates and the excess length of day $$\Delta \hbox {LOD}$$ , and selected weekly Earth’s gravitational field (Stokes) coefficients up to degree and order 6 from Satellite Laser Ranging measurements to up to 11 geodetic satellites. The SLR constellation consists of LAGEOS-1/2, Etalon-1/2, Stella, Starlette, Ajisai, Larets, LARES, BLITS and WESTPAC, and its observations cover a time span of 38 years ranging from February 16, 1979, to April 30, 2017. If multiple satellites with various altitudes and orbit inclinations are combined, correlations between estimated parameters are significantly reduced. This allows us (i) to investigate the ability of satellite constellations to reduce existing correlations and (ii) to estimate reliable parameters with higher precision compared to the standard 4-satellite constellation (LAGEOS-1/2, Etalon-1/2) which is currently used by the International Laser Ranging Service for the determination of the Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) and EOP products. In particular, the Stokes coefficients, EOP and TRF datum parameters (three translations, three rotations, one scale factor), which are highly correlated with satellite-specific orbit parameters, are improved. From our investigations, we found for an 11-satellite solution compared to the above-mentioned 4-satellite solution a decrease in the scatter of the TRF datum parameters of up to 37%, the transformation residuals are decreased by up to 22%, the scatter of the EOP is decreased by up to 22%, and their mean values are decreased by up to 84% w.r.t. the reference solutions. The largest improvement is obtained for the Stokes coefficients which significantly benefit from a combination of multiple satellites (inclinations and orbit altitudes). In total, single coefficients are improved by up to 93% and the overall improvement is up to 74%. Moreover, it could be clearly identified that Ajisai significantly disturbs the TRF solution due to an erroneous center-of-mass correction. We further quantify the impact of specific satellites on the determination of different geodetic parameters and finally evaluate the potential of the existing SLR-tracked spherical satellite constellation to support the goals of GGOS.

In 2016, three new realizations of the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS), namely DTRF2014, ITRF2014, and JTRF2014, have been released. In this paper, we evaluate these ITRS realizations for precise orbit determination of ten high and low Earth orbiting geodetic satellites using satellite laser ranging (SLR) observations. We show the reduction of observation residuals and estimated range biases, when using these new ITRS realizations, as compared to the previous ITRS realization for SLR stations -- SLRF2008. Thus, the mean SLR root-mean-square (RMS) fits reduce (improve), on average over all satellites tested, by 3.0, 3.6, 8.1, and 7.7 % at 1993.0 - 2015.0, when using ITRF2014, DTRF2014, DTRF2014 with non-tidal loading, and JTRF2014 realizations, respectively. The improvement of the RMS fits is even larger at 2015.0 - 2017.0: 14.0 and 15.5 % using ITRF2014 and DTRF2014, respectively. For the altimetry satellite Jason-2, we found improvements in the RMS and mean of the sea surface height crossover differences with the new ITRS realizations, as compared to SLRF2008. We show that JTRF2014, after an editing done for SLR stations Conception and Zimmerwald, and DTRF2014 with non-tidal loading corrections result in the smallest RMS and absolute mean fits of SLR observations indicating the best performance among the ITRS realizations tested, while using SLRF2008 and ITRF2014 causes a 0.2-0.3 mm/y trend in the mean of SLR fits at 2001.0-2017.0.

Solutions for the most recent realization of the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) were computed by the three ITRS Combination Centers (CCs) of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), namely the IGN in Paris (France), the JPL in Pasadena (USA), and the DGFI-TUM in Munich (Germany). Thereby, the solutions of IGN and DGFI-TUM comprise conventional parameters of the ITRS (station coordinates and velocities) at a reference epoch as defined in the IERS Conventions 2010. Although the two solutions are based on identical input data, there exist systematic differences between them.

This paper presents a summary of the activities of the Bureau of Products and Standards (BPS) to support IAG’s Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) in its goal to provide observations and consistent geodetic products needed to monitor, map, and understand changes in the Earth’s shape, rotation, and mass distribution. As a key activity the BPS has compiled an inventory of the standards and conventions currently adopted and used by the IAG and its components for the processing of geometric and gravimetric observations as the basis for the generation of IAG products. The outcome of the BPS inventory concerning numerical standards and the product-based review is summarized and recommendations for future improvements are provided. Finally, an overview about the ongoing and planned activities of the BPS is given.

The Celestial Reference System (CRS) is currently realized only by Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) because it is the space geodetic technique that enables observations in that frame. In contrast, the Terrestrial Reference System (TRS) is realized by means of the combination of four space geodetic techniques: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), VLBI, Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite. The Earth orientation parameters (EOP) are the link between the two types of systems, CRS and TRS. The EOP series of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service were combined of specifically selected series from various analysis centers. Other EOP series were generated by a simultaneous estimation together with the TRF while the CRF was fixed. Those computation approaches entail inherent inconsistencies between TRF, EOP, and CRF, also because the input data sets are different. A combined normal equation (NEQ) system, which consists of all the parameters, i.e., TRF, EOP, and CRF, would overcome such an inconsistency. In this paper, we simultaneously estimate TRF, EOP, and CRF from an inter-technique combined NEQ using the latest GNSS, VLBI, and SLR data (2005–2015). The results show that the selection of local ties is most critical to the TRF. The combination of pole coordinates is beneficial for the CRF, whereas the combination of $$\varDelta \hbox {UT1}$$ results in clear rotations of the estimated CRF. However, the standard deviations of the EOP and the CRF improve by the inter-technique combination which indicates the benefits of a common estimation of all parameters. It became evident that the common determination of TRF, EOP, and CRF systematically influences future ICRF computations at the level of several $$\upmu $$ as. Moreover, the CRF is influenced by up to $$50~\upmu $$ as if the station coordinates and EOP are dominated by the satellite techniques.

Beside the estimation of station coordinates and the Earth’s gravity field, laser ranging observations to near-Earth satellites can be used to determine the rotation of the Earth. One parameter of this rotation is ΔLOD (excess Length Of Day) which describes the excess revolution time of the Earth w.r.t. 86,400 s. Due to correlations among the different parameter groups, it is difficult to obtain reliable estimates for all parameters. In the official ΔLOD products of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), the ΔLOD information determined from laser ranging observations is excluded from the processing. In this paper, we study the existing correlations between ΔLOD, the orbital node Ω, the even zonal gravity field coefficients, cross-track empirical accelerations and relativistic accelerations caused by the Lense–Thirring and deSitter effect in detail using first order Gaussian perturbation equations. We found discrepancies due to different a priories by using different gravity field models of up to 1.0ms for polar orbits at an altitude of 500 km and up to 40.0ms, if the gravity field coefficients are estimated using only observations to LAGEOS 1. If observations to LAGEOS 2 are included, reliable ΔLOD estimates can be achieved. Nevertheless, an impact of the a priori gravity field even on the multi-satellite ΔLOD estimates can be clearly identified. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of empirical cross-track accelerations and the effect of relativistic accelerations of near-Earth satellites on ΔLOD. A total effect of 0.0088 ms is caused by not modeled Lense–Thirring and deSitter terms. The partial derivatives of these accelerations w.r.t. the position and velocity of the satellite cause very small variations (0.1μs) on ΔLOD.

In the conventions of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (e.g. IERS Conventions 2010), it is recommended that the instantaneous station position, which is fixed to the Earth’s crust, is described by a regularized station position and conventional correction models. Current realizations of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame use a station position at a reference epoch and a constant velocity to describe the motion of the regularized station position in time. An advantage of this parameterization is the possibility to provide station coordinates of high accuracy over a long time span. Various publications have shown that residual non-linear station motions can reach a magnitude of a few centimeters due to not considered loading effects. Consistently estimated parameters like the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP) may be affected if these non-linear station motions are neglected. In this paper, we investigate a new approach, which is based on a frequent (e.g. weekly) estimation of station positions and EOP from a combination of epoch normal equations of the space geodetic techniques Global Positioning System (GPS), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). The resulting time series of epoch reference frames are studied in detail and are compared with the conventional secular approach. It is shown that both approaches have specific advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed in the paper. A major advantage of the frequently estimated epoch reference frames is that the non-linear station motions are implicitly taken into account, which is a major limiting factor for the accuracy of the secular frames. Various test computations and comparisons between the epoch and secular approach are performed. The authors found that the consistently estimated EOP are systematically affected by the two different combination approaches. The differences between the epoch and secular frames reach magnitudes of $$23.6~\upmu \hbox {as}$$ (0.73 mm) and $$39.8~\upmu \hbox {as}$$ (1.23 mm) for the x-pole and y-pole, respectively, in case of the combined solutions. For the SLR-only solutions, significant differences with amplitudes of $$77.3~\upmu \hbox {as}$$ (2.39 mm) can be found.

In preparation of activities planned for the realization of the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS), a group of German scientists has carried out a study under the acronym GGOS-D which closely resembles the ideas behind the GGOS initiative. The objective of the GGOS-D project was the investigation of the methodological and information-technological realization of a global geodetic-geophysical observing system and especially the integration and combination of the space geodetic observations. In the course of this project, highly consistent time series of GPS, VLBI, and SLR results were generated based on common state-of-the-art standards for modeling and parameterization. These series were then combined to consistently and accurately compute a Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF). This TRF was subsequently used as the basis to produce time series of station coordinates, Earth orientation, and troposphere parameters. In this publication, we present results of processing algorithms and strategies for the integration of the space-geodetic observations which had been developed in the project GGOS-D serving as a prototype or a small and limited version of the data handling and processing part of a global geodetic observing system. From a comparison of the GGOS-D terrestrial reference frame results and the ITRF2005, the accuracy of the datum parameters is about 5–7 mm for the positions and 1.0–1.5 mm/year for the rates. The residuals of the station positions are about 3 mm and between 0.5 and 1.0 mm/year for the station velocities. Applying the GGOS-D TRF, the offset of the polar motion time series from GPS and VLBI is reduced to 50 μas (equivalent to 1.5 mm at the Earth’s surface). With respect to troposphere parameter time series, the offset of the estimates of total zenith delays from co-located VLBI and GPS observations for most stations in this study is smaller than 1.5 mm. The combined polar motion components show a significantly better WRMS agreement with the IERS 05C04 series (96.0/96.0 μas) than VLBI (109.0/100.7 μas) or GPS (98.0/99.5 μas) alone. The time series of the estimated parameters have not yet been combined and exploited to the extent that would be possible. However, the results presented here demonstrate that the experiences made by the GGOS-D project are very valuable for similar developments on an international level as part of the GGOS development.

In its function as an ITRS Combination Centre, DGFI is in charge with the computation of an ITRF2008 solution. The computation methodology of DGFI is based on the combination of datum-free normal equations (weekly or session data sets, respectively) of station positions and Earth orientation parameters (EOP) from the geodetic space techniques DORIS, GPS, SLR and VLBI. In this paper we focus on the DORIS part within the ITRF2008 computations. We present results obtained from the analysis of the DORIS time series for station positions, network translation and scale parameters, as well as for the terrestrial pole coordinates. The submissions to ITRF2008 benefit from improved analysis strategies of the seven contributing IDS analysis centres and from a combination of the weekly solutions of station positions and polar motion. The results show an improvement by a factor of two compared to past DORIS data submitted to ITRF2005, which has been evaluated by investigating the repeatabilities of position time series. The DORIS position time series were analysed w.r.t. discontinuities and other non-linear effects such as seasonal variations. About 40 discontinuities have been identified which have been compared with the results of an earlier study. Within the inter-technique combination we focus on the DORIS contribution to the integration of the different space geodetic observations and on a comparison of the geodetic local ties with the space geodetic solutions. Results are given for the 41 co-location sites between DORIS and GPS.

The Bureau of Products and Standards (BPS), the former Bureau for Standards and Conventions supports IAG’s Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) in its goals to integrate the three pillars of geodesy: geometry, rotation and gravity field of the Earth and to obtain geodetic products of highest accuracy and consistency. The key objective of the BPS is to ensure the adoption and implementation of common standards and conventions by all IAG components as a fundamental prerequisite for a consistent processing of the different geometric and gravimetric observations. This paper provides the charter of the BPS and gives an overview about the present activities. A major focus of the work is on the compilation of an inventory based on the evaluation of the standards and conventions currently in use by the IAG Services and their contributing analysis centres for the data processing and for the generation of geometric and gravimetric products, such as geodetic reference frames, Earth orientation parameters, gravity field models and satellite orbits. The paper presents some results of this evaluation regarding numerical standards, including time and tide systems and it addresses various aspects related to the geopotential value W0 and to the datum definition of the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS).

The combination of tropospheric parameters derived from different space-geodetic techniques has not been of large interest in geodesy so far. However, due to the high correlation between station coordinates and tropospheric parameters, the latter should not be neglected in combinations. This paper deals with the comparison and combination of tropospheric parameters derived from global positioning system (GPS) and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations stemming from a 15-day campaign of continuous VLBI observations in 2002 (CONT02). The observation data of both techniques were processed homogeneously to avoid systematic differences between the solutions. We compared the tropospheric estimates of GPS and VLBI at eight co-location sites and found a very good agreement in the temporal behavior of the tropospheric zenith path delays (ZPD), reflected by correlation factors up to 0.98. Following this, a combination of the tropospheric parameters was performed. We demonstrate that the combination of tropospheric parameters leads to a stabilization of combined station networks. This becomes visible in the improvement of the repeatabilities of the station height components. Furthermore, the potential use of independent data from water vapor radiometers (WVRs) to validate space-technique-derived tropospheric parameters was investigated. Correlation coefficients of 0.95 or better were estimated between the tropospheric parameters of WVR and GPS or VLBI. Additionally, the utility of the tropospheric parameters for validation of local tie vectors was investigated. Both tropospheric zenith delays and tropospheric gradients were found to be very suitable to validate the height component and the horizontal components of the local tie, respectively.

The International DORIS Service (IDS) submitted input data for the most recent realization of the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS), the International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2014 (ITRF2014). As one of the ITRS Combination Centers, DGFI-TUM is in charge to analyze and assess the quality of the submitted data and to compute a combined global TRF solution (called DTRF2014) using observations of the four geodetic space techniques GNSS, VLBI, SLR and DORIS. The combination methodology used at DGFI-TUM is based on the combination of datum-free normal equations. Together with station coordinates and velocities, terrestrial pole coordinates are estimated in one common adjustment. The paper presents the analysis results of the most recent DORIS submission IDS-d09 and evaluates its quality w.r.t. the DTRF2008 (IDS-only) solution. In the most recent version of the analysis, we introduce in total 55 station discontinuities and reduce 15 stations due to a too short time span or too few observations. Time series of weekly IDS solutions are computed and validated w.r.t. DTRF2008. The transformation parameter time series and the station residuals are discussed in detail. Especially the scale parameter time series shows a significant improvement compared to the DTRF2008 input data. The scatter of the x- and y-translation is significantly reduced to 5.7 mm and 7.1 mm compared to 6.6 mm and 8.1 mm for the DTRF2008 (IDS-only) solution. The z-translation time series still shows a high correlation with solar activity. 10% of all station residuals are significantly affected by spectral peaks at draconitic period harmonics of the altimetry satellites Jason and TOPEX/Poseidon and up to 48% of all station residual time series contain significantly determined frequencies with a 14 day period. The multi-year IDS solution is validated w.r.t. DTRF2008 and the consistently estimated terrestrial pole coordinates are analyzed and compared to IERS 08 C04. The x-pole spectra comprises prominent peaks at various draconitic frequencies.

Recent solutions of the terrestrial reference frame such as ITRF2000 are combined from multi-year data sets that contain station positions at a reference epoch and constant velocities. Analysis of time series of station positions of the geodetic space techniques SLR, GPS, VLBI and DORIS show, however, that these techniques allow to detect variations in station position series with up to a few millimetre accuracy. Therefore, the underlying reference frame needs to assure the same accuracy. In this paper we analyse systematic effects in station position and transformation parameter time series that need to be taken into account for future TRF realisations. These are mainly annual signals that show up as common variations of the global networks as well as local effects on individual stations. These annual signals differ significantly from technique to technique for some co-location sites. Apart from periodic signals the time series show discontinuities (e.g. due to earthquakes or instrumentation changes) and periods of non-linear motion (e.g. post-seismic relaxation). We compute TRF technique solutions of five years of epoch normal equations, which allows to adapt the parameterisation in order to account for the effects mentioned above. The accuracy of the technique-specific solutions is evaluated by comparing the results at co-location sites. For this purpose, we transform the VLBI, SLR and DORIS solutions to the GPS solution by using the measured local ties between GPS and the other techniques.

The IAG (International Association of Geodesy) and the IERS (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service) Joint Working Group (JWG) on “Modeling environmental loading effects for reference frame realizations” currently investigates the effect of correcting station positions for non-linear loading displacements on the realization of the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS). Another IAG/IERS JWG works on strategies for the frequent realization of single-technique and combined short-term reference frames, which are called epoch reference frames (ERFs). Both approaches are able to resolve the lack of parametrization which occurs when only taking linear velocities of geodetic observation sites into account (conventional parametrization). ERFs can account for any non-linear station motion (periodic signals, abrupt position changes, non-linear regional deformations, instrumental-related motions, etc.) on a regional as well as on a global basis.aaaa In this study, combined ERFs using the geodetic space techniques GPS, VLBI, SLR with different temporal resolutions (7-, 14- and 28-day) are compared to conventional multi-year/long-term realizations of the ITRS w.r.t. the datum stability and the ability to sample non-linear station motions. The 7-/14-day ERFs are able to monitor short-term station motions but the realization of the datum is not as stable as for the long-term reference frames. The 28-day ERFs have a more stable datum but are only able to monitor very slow long-term motions such as post-seismic deformations.

On the basis of LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 data we computed a 10-years (1990–2000) solution for SLR station positions and velocities. The paper describes the data processing with the DGFI software package DOGS. We present results for station coordinates and their time variation for 41 stations of the global SLR network, and discuss the stability and time evolution of the SLR reference frame established in the same way. We applied different methods to assess the quality and consistency of the SLR results. The results presented in this paper include: (1) a time series of weekly estimated station coordinates; (2) a comparison of a 10-year LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 solution; (3) a comparison of 2.5-year solutions with the combined 10-year solution to assess the internal stability and the time evolution of the SLR reference frame; (4) a comparison of the SLR reference frame with ITRF97; and (5) a comparison of SLR station velocities with those of ITRF97 and NNR NUVEL-1A.