Influence of non-tidal atmospheric and oceanic loading deformation on the stochastic properties of over 10,000 GNSS vertical land motion time series

Over the past two decades, numerous studies demonstrated that the stochastic variability in GNSS position time series – often referred to as noise – is both temporally and spatially correlated. The time correlation of this stochastic variability can be well approximated by a linear combination of white noise and power-law stochastic processes with different amplitudes. Although acknowledged in many geodetic studies, the presence of such power-law processes in GNSS position time series remains largely unexplained. Considering that these power-law processes are the primary source of uncertainty for velocity estimates, it is crucial to identify their origin(s) and to try to reduce their influence on position time series.

 

Using the Least-Squares Variance Component Estimation method, we analysed the influence of removing surface mass loading deformation on the stochastic properties of vertical land motion time series (VLMs). We used the position time series of over 10,000 globally distributed GNSS stations processed by the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, and loading deformation time series computed by the Earth System Modelling (ESM) team at GFZ-Potsdam. Our results show that the values of stochastic parameters, namely, white noise amplitude, spectral index, and power-law noise amplitude, but also the spatial correlation, are systematically influenced by non-tidal atmospheric and oceanic loading deformation. The observed change in stochastic parameters often translates into a reduction of trend uncertainties, reaching up to -75% when non-tidal atmospheric and oceanic loading deformation is highest.