Ability of GPS PPP in 2D deformation analysis with respect to GPS network solution

Abstract

GNSS networks play an important role in monitoring the displacements, movements and deformations of the Earth’s crust and engineering buildings. In this study, we examine how GPS Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is able to determine the horizontal deformations with respect to the GPS network solution. For this purpose, 7 days data of 12 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) in Turkey (CORS-TR), located in the western part of Turkey, are considered. The Bernese (v5.2)-derived coordinates over 7 days and the ones from four free online PPP services (CSRS, GAPS, APPS, Magic-PPP) are compared using the Bursa-Wolf coordinate transformation model. The errors from these transformations are used to define the RMS values of the PPP solutions in the local coordinate system. These values are relative to the GPS network solution. This fact leads to analysing how the PPP solutions are able to determine the horizontal deformations with respect to the network solution. From many experiments, in which the displacements belonging to the PPP solutions are simulated relative to the network solution, it has been shown that several ppm extensions or contractions may be determined using the free online PPP services. Therefore, we conclude that the online PPP services studied here may be used in 2D deformation studies as an alternative to the GPS network solutions.