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The King Edward Point Geodetic Observatory, South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean

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IAG 150 Years

Part of the book series: International Association of Geodesy Symposia ((IAG SYMPOSIA,volume 143))

Abstract

During February 2013 the King Edward Point (KEP) Geodetic Observatory was established in South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean, through a University of Luxembourg funded research project and in collaboration with the United Kingdom National Oceanography Centre, British Antarctic Survey, and Unavco, Inc. Due to its remote location in the South Atlantic Ocean, as well as being one of few subaerial exposures of the Scotia tectonic plate, South Georgia Island has been a key location for a number of global monitoring networks, e.g. seismic, geomagnetic and oceanic. However, no permanent geodetic monitoring station has been established previously, despite the lack of observations from this region. In this study we will present an evaluation of the GNSS and meteorological observations from the KEP Geodetic Observatory for the period from 14 February to 31 December 2013. We calculate multipath and positioning statistics and compare these to those from IGS stations using equipment of the same type. The on-site meteorological data are compared to those from the nearby KEP meteorological station and the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis model, and the impact of these data sets on integrated water vapour estimates is evaluated. We discuss the installation in terms of its potential contributions to sea level observations using tide gauges and satellite altimetry, studies of tectonics, glacio-isostatic adjustment and atmospheric processes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge numerous colleagues from the University of Luxembourg, National Oceanography Centre, British Antarctic Survey and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands for their support of the observatory. We are greatful to three anonymous referees whose constructive comments greatly improved the manuscript. The IGS and its analysis centers are thanked for providing GNSS data and products.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysics Laboratory, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, L-1359, Luxembourg

    F. N. Teferle, A. Hunegnaw, F. Ahmed & D. Sidorov

  2. National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L3 5DA, UK

    P. L. Woodworth, P. R. Foden & S. D. P. Williams

Authors
  1. F. N. Teferle
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  2. A. Hunegnaw
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  3. F. Ahmed
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  4. D. Sidorov
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  5. P. L. Woodworth
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  6. P. R. Foden
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  7. S. D. P. Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. N. Teferle .

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Editors and Affiliations

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

    Chris Rizos

  2. c/o Editorial Board 190, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Pascal Willis

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Teferle, F.N. et al. (2015). The King Edward Point Geodetic Observatory, South Georgia, South Atlantic Ocean. In: Rizos, C., Willis, P. (eds) IAG 150 Years. International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol 143. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/1345_2015_175

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