EVOLVING THE
GEODETIC
INFRASTRUCTURE
TO MEET NEW SCIENTIFIC NEEDS
Committee on Evolving the Geodetic Infrastructure to Meet New Scientific Needs
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Committee on Seismology and Geodynamics
Division on Earth and Life Studies
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
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This activity was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant No. 80NSSC18K0176 and the National Academy of Sciences’ Arthur L. Day Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-49778-7
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-49778-7
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25579
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Cover: Front: Illustration of the Icesat-2 satellite measuring sea ice thickness, an important climate change variable, in the Arctic. The sea ice height measurement depends on cm-accuracy laser range measurement as well as cm-accuracy tracking using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) of the geodetic infrastructure. Back: The four geodetic measurement techniques of the geodetic infrastructure: Very Long Baseline Interferometry (top left), GNSS (top right), SLR (bottom left), and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (bottom right). Images courtesy of NASA.
Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Evolving the Geodetic Infrastructure to Meet New Scientific Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25579.
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COMMITTEE ON EVOLVING THE GEODETIC INFRASTRUCTURE TO MEET NEW SCIENTIFIC NEEDS
DAVID T. SANDWELL (NAS), Chair, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
SRINIVAS BETTADPUR, The University of Texas at Austin
GEOFFREY BLEWITT, University of Nevada, Reno
JOHN J. BRAUN, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
ANNY CAZENAVE, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Toulouse, France
NANCY GLENN, Boise State University, Idaho, and University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
KRISTINE M. LARSON, University of Colorado Boulder (emeritus)
R. STEVEN NEREM, University of Colorado Boulder
MICHELLE SNEED, U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA
ISABELLA VELICOGNA, University of California, Irvine
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
ANNE LINN, Study Director, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
ERIC EDKIN, Program Coordinator, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
ISABEL P. MONTAÑEZ, Chair, University of California, Davis
ESTELLA A. ATEKWANA, University of Delaware, Newark
BRENDA B. BOWEN, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City
CHRISTOPHER (SCOTT) CAMERON, Geological Consulting, LLC, Houston, Texas
NELIA W. DUNBAR, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Socorro
RODNEY C. EWING (NAE), Stanford University, California
CAROL P. HARDEN, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
ROBERT L. KLEINBERG (NAE), Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University, Massachusetts
THORNE LAY (NAS), University of California, Santa Cruz
ZELMA MAINE-JACKSON, Washington State Department of Ecology, Richland
MICHAEL MANGA (NAS), University of California, Berkeley
MARTIN W. McCANN, Stanford University, California
JEFFREY N. RUBIN
JAMES A. SLUTZ, National Petroleum Council, Washington, District of Columbia
SHAOWEN WANG, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ELIZABETH J. WILSON, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff
ELIZABETH EIDE, Director
ANNE LINN, Scholar
DEBORAH GLICKSON, Senior Staff Officer
SAMMANTHA MAGSINO, Senior Staff Officer
NICHOLAS ROGERS, Financial Business Partner
COURTNEY DEVANE, Administrative Coordinator
ERIC EDKIN, Program Coordinator
RAYMOND (REMY) CHAPPETTA, Senior Program Assistant/Research Assistant
Acknowledgments
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
ZUHEIR ALTAMIMI, University of Paris
LAURA BOURGEAU-CHAVEZ, Michigan Tech Research Institute
DON CHAMBERS, University of South Florida
CLARA CHEW, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
SHIN-CHAN HAN, University of Newcastle
SEAN HEALY, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
TOM HERRING, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GEORGE HILLEY, Stanford University
MARTIN HORWATH, University of Dresden
PAUL SEGALL, Stanford University
YOLANDE SERRA, University of Washington
JOHN VIDALE, University of Southern California
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by DANNY REIBLE, Texas Tech University, and KEITH CLARKE, University of California, Santa Barbara. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
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Contents
Committee’s Tasks and Approach
Geodetic Infrastructure and Terrestrial Reference Frame
2 PROGRESS IN MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING THE GEODETIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Maintaining and Improving the Geodetic Infrastructure
Enhancing Specific SLR and VLBI Sites
International Geodetic Network
International Geodetic Services and the ITRF
Thermal Expansion—Ocean Heat Storage
Aquifer-System Compaction (Land Subsidence)
Surface Water Monitoring by Satellite Altimetry
Water Cycle Monitoring with Satellite Gravity
Calibration/Validation and GNSS-IR
5 GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS: EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES
Required Measurements and Links to the Terrestrial Reference Frame
Improvements in Weather Models
Reducing Uncertainty in Climate Projections
Lateral Transport of Carbon, Nutrients, Soil, and Water
Permafrost and Changes in the Arctic
8 PRIORITIES FOR MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING THE GEODETIC INFRASTRUCTURE
Accuracy and Stability of the TRF
Accuracy and Stability of Satellite Orbits
Accuracy of the Low-Degree Geopotential Harmonics
Augmentation of the GNSS Station Network
Supporting Software, Models, Data, and Expertise
A Science and Applications Traceability Matrixes
B Speakers and Workshop Participants