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External Evaluation of the Terrestrial Reference Frame: Report of the Task Force of the IAG Sub-commission 1.2

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Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet

Part of the book series: International Association of Geodesy Symposia ((IAG SYMPOSIA,volume 139))

Abstract

Ideally, the origin of the Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) is defined as the center of mass of the whole Earth system, the time evolution of its orientation is such that no global net rotation of the whole Earth’s surface is possible and the TRF scale is specified through the adoption of some physical constants and time-scale. These parameters need to be accurately determined since their choice has an influence on many Earth’s science applications. The aim of the task force “External evaluation of the Terrestrial Reference Frame” is to review all the applications for which the TRF accuracy is of fundamental importance. As the TRF choice has an influence on the interpretation of the results in these specific applications, we investigate if some evaluation procedures could be established. We classified the methods that allow evaluation of the TRF using ground, geodetic data or models that have not been used in the TRF construction, based on their expected contributions. Some of these methods have been applied to the latest International Terrestrial Reference System realizations and the results are presented here. Although further analysis will be necessary to deliver a more precise error budget, our findings demonstrate that the most recent realizations of the ITRS are more accurate than the previous in terms of origin and scale rate definition. The current level of ITRF2008 accuracy is likely to be at the level of 0.5 mm/year along each origin component and better than 0.3 mm/year in the scale rate according to the most recent studies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly funded by the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) through a TOSCA grant. The contribution by J.Mäkinen was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant 117094) and benefited from the co-operation in the COST Action ES0701 “Improved Constraints on Models of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment”

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IGN, LAREG, Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Diderot, Bâatiment Lamarck 5 rue Thomas Mann, Case courrier 7011, 75 205, Paris Cedex 13, France

    X. Collilieux, Z. Altamimi & L. Métivier

  2. Groupe de Recherche de Géodésie Spatiale (GRGS), Toulouse, France

    X. Collilieux, Z. Altamimi & L. Métivier

  3. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 75252, Paris, France

    X. Collilieux, Z. Altamimi & L. Métivier

  4. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    D. F. Argus, B. J. Haines & X. Wu

  5. Observatoire de Paris, Syrte, 75014, Paris, France

    C. Boucher

  6. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    A. Dermanis

  7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    T. A. Herring

  8. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    C. W. Kreemer

  9. Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 698, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    F. G. Lemoine, C. Ma & D. S. MacMillan

  10. Finnish Geodetic Institute, 02431, Masala, Finland

    J. Mäkinen

  11. Center for Space Research, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    J. Ries

  12. University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    F. N. Teferle

Authors
  1. X. Collilieux
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  2. Z. Altamimi
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  3. D. F. Argus
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  4. C. Boucher
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  5. A. Dermanis
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  6. B. J. Haines
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  7. T. A. Herring
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  8. C. W. Kreemer
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  9. F. G. Lemoine
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  10. C. Ma
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  11. D. S. MacMillan
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  12. J. Mäkinen
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  13. L. Métivier
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  14. J. Ries
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  15. F. N. Teferle
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  16. X. Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to X. Collilieux .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Surveying, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Chris Rizos

  2. Direction Technique, Institut national de l'Information, Saint-Mandé, France

    Pascal Willis

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Collilieux, X. et al. (2014). External Evaluation of the Terrestrial Reference Frame: Report of the Task Force of the IAG Sub-commission 1.2. In: Rizos, C., Willis, P. (eds) Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet. International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol 139. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37222-3_25

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