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Rigorous GPS data-processing strategies for glaciological applications

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Matt King

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Abstract

Global positioning system (GPS) data are now routinely used for many glaciological applications. In some common cases, systematic errors are unmodelled at the data-processing stage, although they are often presumed insignificant. In this paper, I investigate these assumptions for three different scenarios: (1) measurements on a moving glacier; (2) measurements on a floating ice shelf; and (3) precise height determination over large elevation ranges, such as for aircraft positioning in lidar/laser altimeter missions. In each case, systematic errors are shown to be present in the coordinate solutions that have a far greater magnitude than the formal error estimates produced by the GPS processing software, under certain conditions. If these coordinate biases go undetected, short- and long-term measurements of horizontal ice velocity or rates of ice-thickness change may be erroneous and the coordinates could not be expected to match rigorously processed data or results from different processing techniques. More rigorous processing strategies are discussed that allow for bias-free parameter estimation.

Publication metadata

Author(s): King MA

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Glaciology

Year: 2004

Volume: 50

Issue: 171

Pages: 601-607

ISSN (print): 0022-1430

ISSN (electronic): 1727-5652

Publisher: International Glaciological Society

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3189/172756504781829747

DOI: 10.3189/172756504781829747

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