Assessment of International GNSS Service Global Ionosphere Map products over China region based on measurements from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China

The global ionosphere maps(GIM)provided by the International GNSS Service(IGS)are extensively utilized for ionospheric morphology monitoring,scientific research,and practical application.Assessing the credibility of GIM products in data-sparse regions is of paramount importance.In this study,measurements from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China(CMONOC)are leveraged to evaluate the suitability of IGS-GIM products over China region in 2013-2014.The indices of mean error(ME),root mean square error(RMSE),and normalized RMSE(NRMSE)are then utilized to quantify the accuracy of IGS-GIM products.Results revealed distinct local time and latitudinal dependencies in IGS-GIM errors,with substantially high errors at nighttime(NRMSE:39%)and above 40°latitude(NRMSE:49%).Seasonal differences also emerged,with larger equinoctial deviations(NRMSE:33.5%)compared with summer(20%).A preliminary analysis implied that the irregular assimilation of sparse IGS observations,compounded by China’s distinct geomagnetic topology,may manifest as error variations.These results suggest that modeling based solely on IGS-GIM observations engenders inadequate representations across China and that a thorough examination would proffer the necessary foundation for advancing regional total electron content(TEC)constructions.

General characteristics of the recent horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland

In this paper, the horizontal crustal movement obtained from GPS observations in 1998 and 2000 at basic and fiducial stations in the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) is introduced. A brief introduction of the field observations, the data processing with GAMIT/GLOBK software and the accuracy of the GPS observations is given. In average the accuracy of the results for each year is about 2 mm in the horizontal components and 5 mm in the vertical component, and the average accuracy of horizontal displacements at a station is about 3 mm. The results of crustal movement during the period from early September 1998 to mid June, 2000, including the displacements at each station with datum definition of a group of stable stations of insignificant relative movements among themselves in the eastern part of China, strains in different parts of the network and rotations in some parts, are obtained. Based on the crustal movement maps which are more complete and detailed than previous ones, the general characteristics of the recent crustal movement in Chinese mainland are discussed. During the above mentioned period of observations, the crustal deformation in the eastern part of China was relatively small and quite stable. With reference to a group of stable stations with small relative movement in the eastern part of China, the northeastern China block moved northward for about 10 mm, the South China block moved south-eastern for about 9 mm. In reference to the eastern part the northwestern part of China moved northward for about 26 mm, the Tibetan area in southwestern part of China moved mainly northward for about 32 mm. The area in Yunnan and east Tibet showed significant clockwise tectonic rotation of 0.0045 double prime or average rotational displacement of 12 mm with the rotation center at 26.5°N and 95.5°E. The North-South Seismic Belt in the middle part of China is of active and complicated deformation. The observation results show that the northward pushing by the Indian plate has still played the dominant role in the crustal movement in Chinese mainland.

Horizontal crustal movement before the great Wenchuan earthquake obtained from GPS observations in the regional network

The great Wenchuan earthquake of M8.0 on May 12, 2008, occurred in an area with dense GPS observation stations in the regional network of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC）. Non-continuous observations were carried out at the 1 000 GPS stations of the regional network in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2007. The horizontal displacements at GPS stations in the regional network before the Wenchuan earthquake show that the main driving tectonic force of the earthquake was the northward pushing of the Indian plate, added at the same time by the pushing of plates on the east and south. In comparison to the displacements in other regions, the horizontal displacements near and around the seismic area is characterized by diverging eastward displacements, that is, the stations to the north of the epicenter moved in the ENE direction while those to the south of epicenter moved in ESE direction with smaller displacements at stations near the epicenter. The accuracy of the estimated strain results is briefly discussed. In order to obtain the anomalous information before the earthquake, the methods of both best fits by trend surface and statistics have been used in the study for finding the future epicentral area from the strain accumulations in the regional network observed from 1999 to 2007 before the Wenchuan earthquake. Besides the epicentral area of the western Kunlun mountain pass earthquake of M8.1 in 2001, the results of best fits by trend surfaces of the strain accumulations from 1999 to 2007 in the regional network show that the Wenchuan earthquake occurred at the eastern fringe of a large area with relatively large accumulations of the first shear strains and also at the northeastern fringe of a smaller area with significant accumulated areal compressions. The statistics of the accumulations of the strain components demonstrates that they also showed anomalous distribution pattems in this area and its neighborhood with increasing accumulations of both shear strains and areal compressions.

Anomalous crustal movements before great Wenchuan earthquake observed by GPS

Studies of GPS data carried out before and after the great Wenchuan earthquake of Ms8.0 on May 12, 2008 show that anomalous crustal movements occurred before the earthquake. Data from 4 pre-earthquake observation sessions at a dense network of stations show that there were prominent broad-ranged long- and midterm anomalies in horizontal displacements and strain and in vertical displacements. Data from the fewer-numbered reference stations of continuous GPS observations since 1999 in West and South China showed short-term preseismic anomalies in horizontal displacements. The detection of co-seismic horizontal displacements at these stations supports the existence of the pre-earthquake anomalies. Results of single-epoch solutions of data from continuous-observation stations near the epicenter also show large imminent anomalies in vertical displacements. Although the Wenchuan earthquake was not predicted, these results give a strong indication that GPS should be the main observation technique for long-term, mid-term, short-term and imminent earthquake predictions.

Characteristics of horizontal crustal movement in Weihe basin and adjacent zones by GPS observation

Based on the GPS data provided by CMONOC during 1999~2002 and observed by Seismological Bureau of Shaanxi Province during 2001~2002, we have obtained the crustal movement velocity field in Weihe basin and adjacent regions. The results show that the motion velocity in Weihe basin and adjacent zones is characterized by distinct NE-directional stripped variation. The south border of Ordos block seems to show an discontinuous anti-clockwise rotation on the whole with an average velocity of about 5.7 mma-1 relative to Yulin site on the Ordos block. There is a left-lateral shear belt on both sides of Binxian-Xi'an-Lantian zone in the central Weihe basin, and its northern area has a better corresponding relationship with the dense zone of small earthquakes in Tong-chuan-Jingyang-Lintong-Weinan.

Global crustal movement and tectonic plate boundary deformation constrained by the ITRF2008

On the basis of the newly released International Terrestrial Reference Frame（ITRF2008） by the International Earth Rotation Service （IERS）, a new global plate model ITRF2008 plate for the major plates is established. This ITRF2008-derived model is analyzed in comparison with NNR-NUVEL1A model, which is mainly based on geological and geophysical data. The Eurasia and Paeifi6 plates display obvious differences in terms of the velocity fields derived from the two plate motion models. Plate acceleration is also introduced to characterize the differences of the two velocity fields which obtained from ITRF2008-plate and NNR-NUVEL1A models for major individual plates. The results show that the Africa, South America and Eurasia plates are undergoing acceleration, while the North America and Australia plates are in the state of deceleration motion

Crustal movement in Chinese mainland observed from 1998 to 1999

In this paper, GPS observations during 1998 to 1999 at fiducial stations in the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) and GPS observation data processing with Bernese Software are briefly introduced. The processed results of crustal movement in the network during the period from early September 1998 to early July 1999, including the displacements at each fiducial station and strains in different part of the network, are discussed in detail. During the above mentioned period of observations, the eastern part of China was relatively stable. In contrast, the southwest part of China moved northwards about 17 mm with a dominant compression in NNE; the northwestern part of China moved northwestwards about 11 mm; and the Yunnan area moved southwards about 14 mm. The North-South seismic belt in the middle part of China is a belt of strong shear deformation. The maximum principal strain in the network is 2.9×10-8. The observation result shows that the northward push by the Indian Plate has still played the dominant role in the crystal movement in China.

Monitoring the ionosphere based on the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China

The Global Navigation Satellite System （GNSS） is becoming important for monitoring the variations in the earth＇s ionosphere based on the total electron content （TEC） and iono- spheric electron density （IED）. The Crustal Movement Observation Network of China （CMONOC）, which includes GNSS stations across China's Mainland, enables the continuous monitoring of the ionosphere over China as accurately as possible. A series of approaches for GNSS-based ionospheric remote sensing and software has been proposed and devel- oped by the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics （IGG） in Wuhan. Related achievements include the retrieval of ionospheric observables from raw GNSS data, differential code biases estimations in satellites and receivers, models of local and regional ionospheric TEC, and algorithms of ionospheric tomography. Based on these achievements, a software for processing GNSS data to determine the variations in ionospheric TEC and IED over China has been designed and developed by IGG. This software has also been installed at the CMONOC data centers belonging to the China Earthquake Administration and China Meteorological Administration. This paper briefly introduces the related research achievements and indicates potential directions of future work.

Evaluation of vertical crustal movements and sea level changes around Greenland from GPS and tide gauge observations

To better monitor the vertical crustal movements and sea level changes around Greenland,multiple data sources were used in this paper,including global positioning system(GPS),tide gauge,satellite gravimetry,satellite altimetry,glacial isostatic adjustment(GIA).First,the observations of more than 50 GPS stations from the international GNSS service(IGS)and Greenland network(GNET)in 2007–2018 were processed and the common mode error(CME)was eliminated with using the principal component analysis(PCA).The results show that all GPS stations show an uplift trend and the stations in southern Greenland have a higher vertical speed.Second,by deducting the influence of GIA,the impact of current Gr IS mass changes on GPS stations was analysed,and the GIA-corrected vertical velocity of the GPS is in good agreement with the vertical velocity obtained by gravity recovery and climate experiment(GRACE).Third,the absolute sea level change around Greenland at 4 gauge stations was obtained by combining relative sea level derived from tide gauge observations and crustal uplift rates derived from GPS observations,and was validated by sea level products of satellite altimetry.The results show that although the mass loss of Gr IS can cause considerable global sea level rise,eustatic movements along the coasts of Greenland are quite complex under different mechanisms of sea level changes.

Current crustal movement in Chinese mainland

The quantification of tectonic deformation in the Eastern and Central Asia is of great significance for the study on global plate motion and lithospheric dynamics. In the past four years, the velocity field of horizontal crustal movement for the Chinese mainland has been established for the first time thanks to the intensified GPS measurements and its improved accuracy. The velocity field derived from GPS measurements delineates the patterns of tectonic deformation in the Chinese mainland in the unprecedented detail, and thus reveals the new features of the ongoing tectonic process resulted from the collision of Indian plate to Eurasian plate. Meanwhile, the surface offset induced by two strong earthquakes occurred in Chinese mainland was sampled precisely using InSAR technique.

Horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland from 1999 to 2001

The paper introduces the horizontal crustal movement obtained from GPS observations in the regional networks (including the basic network and the fiducial network) of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) carried out in 1999 and 2001. This paper is characterized by the acquisition of the horizontal dis- placement velocities during the period from 1999 to 2001 at the observation stations in the regional networks with datum definition of a group of stable stations with small mutual displacements in east China. Based on the most detailed map of horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland, the division of blocks, their displacements and deformations are studied. An approach to analysis of the intensity of the horizontal crustal deformation is proposed. The general characteristics of the recent horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland and that before the Kunlunshan earthquake of M=8.1 on November 14, 2001 are analyzed.

Horizontal crustal movement in Chinese mainland before and after the great Kunlun Mountain M=8.1 earthquake in 2001

The continuous GPS observation at the fiducial stations in the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) recorded the crustal movement of Chinese mainland before and after the great Kunlun Mountain earthquake of M=8.1 on November 14, 2001, especially the horizontal crustal movement in the western part of China. Based on the datum defined by a group of stable stations with small mutual horizontal displacements for a few years, the time series of horizontal displacements at fiducial stations were obtained. Significant anomalous horizontal displacements had appeared at the fiducial stations in the western part of China since early November 2000 and several earthquakes with the magnitudes about 6.0 had occurred in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces. The northward components of the horizontal displacement at the fiducial stations in west China had decreased signifi-cantly and even changed in the opposite sense since mid April 2001. After the earthquake, the northward dis-placements still decreased and there were significant westward displacements. The process of the crustal move-ment in the western part of Chinese mainland (in reference to east China) suggests that the main force source for this earthquake came from the northward pushing of the Indian plate. The great earthquake released a large amount of energy, as a result, the action applied by the Indian plate to Chinese mainland diminished significantly and after the great earthquake, the seismic activity in Chinese mainland decreased considerably until the end of 2002.

Monitoring Crustal Movement of the Coastal Zone in Eastern China with GPS Technique

In this paper, various dominating factors affecting crustal movement of the coastal zone in eastern China are analyzed, and major characteristics of crustal movement are summarized. Subduction of the pacific plate and Philippine plate and southeastward "escape" of Qinghai-Tibet plateau are believed to be dominating factors affecting crustal movement of that zone. Undoubtedly, it is a best way to monitor this kind of large-scale crustal movement with GPS technique. The feasibility of monitoring crustal m...

Preliminary division of active block boundary in Chinese mainland based on recent vertical crustal movement

The characteristics of vertical crustal movement in Chinese mainland are studied, and the ideas and principles for dividing active blocks according to the map of recent vertical crustal deformation rate in China is proposed. As a result, Chinese mainland is divided into 2 first-grade blocks, the east and west block, 6 second-grade blocks, the Northeast China, North China, East China, Xizang (Tibet), Gansu-Qinghai-Xizang (Gan-Qing-Zang) and Xinjiang block, and 16 third-grade blocks. The boundaries of active blocks divided in this paper are generally consistent with the pattern of neotectonic movement with some local difference. It shows that the recent crustal activity in Chinese mainland inherits the neotectonic movement occurred since the Quaternary, while some new activity tendencies appear.

Multi-quadric Equations Interpolation and Its Applications to the Establishment of Crustal Movement Speed Field

In this paper,multi_quadric equations interpolation is used to establish a widely covered and valuable speed field model,with which the crustal movement image is obtained.

A Physical Method of Analyzing theMechanism of Continental StrongShocks from Crustal Movement

In order to analyze the mechanism of continental strong shocks from the angle of crustal movement using the data of repeated geodetic survey, this paper has proposed a physical method; it analyzes the mechanism of density change due to the occurrence of strong shocks by use of the physical quantity that reflects the time change of crustal density. (1) The general theory of the time change of density in the earth’ s interior and the theory of the time change of single layer density have been introduced, and an algorithm of stepwise iteration has been proposed; (2) The effect of the change of single layer density caused by fault dislocation has been analyzed in brief; (3) The characteristics of the time change of crustal density in the south of the seismogenic region before the 1996 Lijiang earthquake with M_L =7.0 have been studied; (4) The precursor model or causal mechanism of strong shocks possibly existing in the time change of crustal density has been investigated preliminarily.

The Dynamic Characteristics of Strain Fields and Crustal Movement before the Wenchuan Earthquake (M_S=8.0)

In this paper, we analyze the crustal movements, strain field changes and large scale dynamic characteristics of horizontal deformation before the Wenchuan earthquake (M_S=8.0) using GPS data obtained from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China. The following issues are discussed. First, the strain fields of the Longmenshan fault zone located at the epicenter show slow accumulation, because of the tectonic dynamics process subjected to the eastward movement of the Bayan Har block. Second, the different movements between the Longmenshan fault and South China block are smaller than the errors of GPS observation. Third, the high value of compressive strain (2004～2007) is located at the epicenter, which shows that the local squeezing action is stronger than before. Fourth, the data from GPS reference stations in the Chinese Mainland show that crustal shortening is faster than before in the north-eastern direction, which is part of the background of the local tectonic dynamics increase in the Longmenshan fault zone.

DISPLACEMENT TIME SERIS AT FIDUCIAL STATIONS OBTAINED FROM GPS OBSERVATIONS IN CRUSTAL MOVEMENT OBSEREVATION NETWORK OF CHINA

A preliminary analysis of the time series of displacements at fiducial stations obtained from continuous GPS observations during the period of Sept. 1998 to Oct. 2001 in the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) is made. The selection of datum for producing displacement time series suitable for earthquake prediction is discussed. Time series of horizontal crustal displacements are obtained by using a datum of a stable group of 9 stations with very small relative horizontal displacements in eastern China as reference. Time series of vertical crustal displacements are obtained by using a stable group of 7 stations scattered in different regions with relatively small relative vertical displacements as reference. During the period of 2000 to 2001, anomalous horizontal and vertical displacements occurred twice at the fiducial stations in western China. These anomalies may be related to seismic activities of magnitudes about 6 in the Yunnan region on the North South seismic belt.

PRESENT-DAY CRUSTAL MOVEMENT OF NORTH-EASTERN QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU

GPS observations of CMONOC and other network reveal that, relative to Dingxin fiducial station in Alashan block, the crustal movements of north eastern Qinghai Tibet plateau and its adjacent regions have the following characteristics:(i)The western part of Qilian block is shortening and moving mainly northeastward, the 8 mm/a motion of southern margin of Qaidam basin is almost completely absorbed by compressed subsidence of Qaidam basin and uplift of Qilian mountain; (ii) Eastern part of Qilian block manifests itself mainly as block like rotation or extrusion along Haiyuan left lateral fault,with an angular velocity of 0.135 /Ma; (iii) Due to the clockwise rotation of the eastern Qilian sub block in the NW Liupanshan range, Ordos block shows a slight anticlockwise rotation; (iv) Haiyuan left lateral fault and northern edge thrust fault of Qilian mountain jointly constitute the major northeastern boundary of Qinghai Tibet plateau judging from the present day crustal movement.