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Science 16 June 1989:
Vol. 244. no. 4910, pp. 1337 - 1340
DOI: 10.1126/science.244.4910.1337
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Articles

Global Positioning System Measurements for Crustal Deformation: Precision and Accuracy

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT 1, JAMES L. DAVIS 1, and JERRY L. SVARC 1

1 U. S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Mail Stop 977, Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Analysis of 27 repeated observations of Global Positioning System (GPS) position-difference vectors, up to 11 kilometers in length, indicates that the standard deviation of the measurements is 4 millimeters for the north component, 6 millimeters for the east component, and 10 to 20 millimeters for the vertical component. The uncertainty grows slowly with increasing vector length. At 225 kilometers, the standard deviation of the measurement is 6, 11, and 40 millimeters for the north, east, and up components, respectively. Measurements with GPS and Geodolite, an electromagnetic distance-measuring system, over distances of 10 to 40 kilometers agree within 0.2 part per million. Measurements with GPS and very long baseline interferometry of the 225-kilometer vector agree within 0.05 part per million.

Submitted on January 27, 1989
Accepted on April 28, 1989


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake: An Anticipated Event.
U.S. Geological Survey Staff (1990)
Science 247, 286-293
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