Present-day surface deformation of the Alpine Region inferred from geodetic techniques (data)

We provide a present-day surface-kinematics model for the Alpine region and surroundings based on a high-level data analysis of a network of about 300 continuously operating GNSS (GPS+GLONASS) stations with observations collected over 12.4 years. Based on the network station velocities, a continuous kinematic field is derived using a geodetic least-squares collocation approach with empirically determined covariance functions. Main results are (1) a deformation model, (2) a continuous surface-kinematic (velocity) field, and (3) a strain field consistently assessed for the entire Alpine mountain belt. The core contribution of this work is the homogeneous analysis of a large number of freely available data from GNSS stations located in the Alpine region, using unified processing standards and a common reference frame for the complete time-span covered by the observations. The GNSS network solution refers to the reference frame IGb08, epoch 2010.0. The mean precision of the station positions at the reference epoch is ±1.1 mm in N and E and ±2.3 mm in height. The mean precision of the station velocities is ±0.2 mm/a in N and E and ±0.4 mm/a in the height. The averaged accuracy of the horizontal and vertical deformation models inferred from the pointwise station velocities are ±0.2 mm/a and ±0.3 mm/a, respectively. The deformation model as well as the continuous velocity and strain fields are given in a grid of 25 km x 25 km covering the region between longitudes 4°E and 16°E and latitudes 43°N and 49°N.