A clock network for geodesy and fundamental science
C. Lisdat, G. Grosche, N. Quintin
et al.
Leveraging the unrivalled performance of optical clocks as key tools for geo-science, for astronomy and for fundamental physics beyond the standard model requires comparing the frequency of distant optical clocks faithfully. Here, we report on the comparison and agreement of two strontium optical clocks at an uncertainty of 5 × 10−17 via a newly established phase-coherent frequency link connecting Paris and Braunschweig using 1,415 km of telecom fibre. The remote comparison is limited only by the instability and uncertainty of the strontium lattice clocks themselves, with negligible contributions from the optical frequency transfer. A fractional precision of 3 × 10−17 is reached after only 1,000 s averaging time, which is already 10 times better and more than four orders of magnitude faster than any previous long-distance clock comparison. The capability of performing high resolution international clock comparisons paves the way for a redefinition of the unit of time and an all-optical dissemination of the SI-second. Comparing the frequency of two distant optical clocks will enable sensitive tests of fundamental physics. Here, the authors compare two strontium optical-lattice clocks 690 kilometres apart to a degree of accuracy that is limited only by the uncertainty of the individual clocks themselves.
397 sitasi
en
Physics, Medicine
Dynamic suitability-weighted CA-Markov model for projecting urban growth and thermal impacts: a case study of Abuja
Ekundayo A. ADESINA, Oluibukun G. AJAYI, Joseph O. ODUMOSU
et al.
Traditional urban growth models often decouple land-use change from its climatic consequences, creating planning blind spots. This study introduces a globally transferable Dynamic Suitability-Weighted CA-Markov (DSW-CA-Markov) framework that, for the first time, integrates Land Surface Temperature (LST) trends as dynamic suitability factors within Cellular Automata transition rules, enabling bidirectional urban-thermal feedback simulation. We develop and validate this framework using multi-temporal Landsat data (2010, 2015, 2020) from Abuja, Nigeria, then project integrated urban-thermal patterns to 2030. Our primary innovation is a dynamic feedback mechanism where pixel-level LST change rates are embedded as evolving suitability factors within CA transition rules, moving beyond static suitability mapping or post-hoc thermal correlation. Results reveal a 157.29% built-up increase (2010-2020) with LST rises of 3.6 °C, and projected continued expansion with amplified UHI effects. The DSW-CA-Markov framework demonstrates superior capability in simulating coupled urban-thermal dynamics compared to conventional CA-Markov approaches (Kappa improvement: 0.08; thermal : 0.73 vs. 0.65). This study provides both a novel methodological template for climate-responsive urban modelling and crucial insights for sustainable planning in fast-growing cities globally.
Vertical Crustal Movement along the Coast of South Africa
F. E. Kemgang Ghomsi, F. E. Kemgang Ghomsi, F. E. Kemgang Ghomsi
et al.
This study provides an in-depth evaluation of sea level rise (SLR) and its varied effects across the coastal regions of southern Africa. Utilizing data collected between 1993 and 2022, we analyze SLR patterns alongside land subsidence phenomena, based on observations from 10 strategically located tide gauges and X-TRACK satellite altimetry datasets. To ensure greater accuracy, the Coastal Altimetry Approach was adopted to refine nearshore measurements. Findings indicate that in areas such as Cape Town, sea-level rise rates reach around 6.3 mm/year, which is nearly twice the current global average of 3.3 mm/year. The interaction between rapid sea-level rise and subsidence rates surpassing 2.2 mm/year presents significant threats to coastal communities, critical infrastructure, and natural ecosystems. Moreover, the study highlights how seismic activity contributes to coastal dynamics, illustrating the role of earthquake-induced subsidence in magnifying the impacts of SLR. By incorporating seismic factors into the analysis, a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between natural and human-induced drivers of sea-level variability is achieved. Additionally, the study examines the broader effects of SLR on Africa’s culturally and historically important coastal heritage sites, emphasizing the urgent need for proactive coastal management and climate adaptation efforts.
Technology, Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Editorial Board
Geodesy, Geophysics. Cosmic physics
Segmented Timber Shells for Circular Construction: Relocation, Structural Assessment, and Robotic Fabrication of a Modular, Lightweight Timber Structure
Simon Bechert, Simon Aicher, Lyudmila Gorokhova
et al.
Segmented timber shells present a novel building system that utilizes modular, planar building components to create lightweight free-form structures in architecture. Recent advancements in the research field of segmented timber shells pursue, among others, two fundamentally opposing research objectives. 1. The modularity of their building components facilitates the reuse of such structures in response to a changing built environment. 2. Advanced developments aim at establishing segmented timber shells as permanent building structures for sustainable architecture. This paper addresses the first research objective through the successful relocation of the BUGA Wood Pavilion in the context of the proposed methodology of Co-Design for circular construction. The methods and results involve integrative design and engineering processes and advanced quality assessment methods, including structural, geodetic, and physical properties for modular timber constructions. The BUGA Wood Pavilion serves as a building demonstrator for the presented research on segmented shells as lightweight, reusable, and durable timber structures.
Global structure graph mapping for multimodal change detection
Te Han, Yuqi Tang, Yuzeng Chen
et al.
ABSTRACTMultimodal change detection (MCD) combines multiple remote sensing data sources to realize surface change monitoring, which is essential for disaster evaluation and environmental monitoring. However, due to the ‘incomparable’ features in multimodal data, traditional change detection methods for unimodal (homogenous) data no longer apply. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel MCD method with global structure graph mapping (GSGM) which extracts the ‘comparable’ structural features between multimodal datasets and constructs a global structure graph (GSG) to express the structure information for each of the multi-temporal images, which are then cross-mapped to the other data domain. The change intensity (CI) is determined by measuring the change of GSGs after mapping and the differences between GSGs and mapped GSGs. The forward and backward CI maps (CIMs) are then fused with the latent low-rank representation method (LLRR), and the change map (CM) is obtained by threshold segmentation. Experiments on five multimodal and four unimodal datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method (source code is made available at https://github.com/rshante0426/GSGM).
Mathematical geography. Cartography
Editorial: Towards 2030: Sustainable Development Goal 11: sustainable cities and communities. A sociological perspective
Andrzej Klimczuk, Delali A. Dovie, Agnieszka Cieśla
et al.
Accurate Discharge Estimation Based on River Widths of SWOT and Constrained At-Many-Stations Hydraulic Geometry
Bin Du, Taoyong Jin, Dong Liu
et al.
River discharge monitoring is an important component of the hydrology objectives of Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission (SWOT). River discharge can be estimated Solely using river widths and At Many-stations Hydraulic Geometry (AMHG), but the accuracy is low due to the parameters of At a-station Hydraulic Geometry (AHG) given by AMHG deviate from the truth. In view of this, a Constrained At-Many-Stations Hydraulic Geometry (CAMHG) is proposed to optimize AHG parameters. The performance of CAMHG is verified in three reaches of the Yangtze River using river widths derived from SWOT. After using CAMHG, the relative root mean square error (RRMSE) of estimated discharge reduce 100.1% to 24.4%, 1137.1% to 49.9% and 48.6% to 45.5% for Hankou, Shashi and Luoshan respectively. In addition, CAMHG can also weaken the accuracy difference of estimated discharge in dry and wet seasons benefited from its more reliable AHG parameters. Thus, the proposed CAMHG can dramatically improves the accuracy of discharge estimations and it is meaningful for the discharge calculation after SWOT data release.
Unravel the spatio-temporal patterns and their nonlinear relationship with correlates of dockless shared bikes near metro stations
Zhaomin Tong, Yi Zhu, Ziyi Zhang
et al.
ABSTRACTThe dockless bike-sharing system has rapidly expanded worldwide and has been widely used as an intermodal transport to connect with public transportation. However, higher flexibility may cause an imbalance between supply and demand during daily operation, especially around the metro stations. A stable and efficient rebalancing model requires spatio-temporal usage patterns as fundamental inputs. Therefore, understanding the spatio-temporal patterns and correlates is important for optimizing and rescheduling bike-sharing systems. This study proposed a dynamic time warping distance-based two-dimensional clustering method to quantify spatio-temporal patterns of dockless shared bikes in Wuhan and further applied the multiclass explainable boosting machine to explore the main related factors of these patterns. The results found six patterns on weekdays and four patterns on weekends. Three patterns show the imbalance of arrival and departure flow in the morning and evening peak hours, while these phenomena become less intensive on weekends. Road density, living service facility density and residential density are the top influencing factors on both weekdays and weekends, which means that the comprehensive impact of built-up environment attraction, facility suitability and riding demand leads to the different usage patterns. The nonlinear influence universally exists, and the probability of a certain pattern varies in different value ranges of variables. When the densities of living facilities and roads are moderate and the relationship between job and housing is relatively balanced, it can effectively promote the balanced usage of dockless shared bikes while maintaining high riding flow. The spatio-temporal patterns can identify the associated problems such as imbalance or lack of users, which could be mitigated by corresponding solutions. The relative importance and nonlinear effects help planners prioritize strategies and identify effective ranges on different patterns to promote the usage and efficiency of the bike-sharing system.
Mathematical geography. Cartography, Geodesy
Brief communication: Glacier mapping and change estimation using very high-resolution declassified Hexagon KH-9 panoramic stereo imagery (1971–1984)
S. Ghuffar, S. Ghuffar, O. King
et al.
<p>The panoramic cameras (PCs) on board Hexagon KH-9 (KH-9PC) satellite missions from 1971–1984 captured very high-resolution stereo imagery with up to 60 cm spatial resolution. This study explores the potential of this imagery for glacier mapping and change estimation. We assess KH-9PC imagery using data from the KH-9 mapping camera (KH-9MC), KH-4PC, and SPOT and Pléiades satellite imagery. The high resolution of KH-9PC leads to higher-quality DEMs, which better resolve the accumulation region of the glaciers in comparison to the KH-9MC. On stable terrain, KH-9PC DEMs achieve an elevation accuracy of <span class="inline-formula"><4</span> m with respect to SPOT and Pléiades DEMs. While the estimated geodetic mass balances using PC and MC data are similar after outlier filtering, the elevation change data show superior spatial coverage and considerably less noise when using KH-9PC data.</p>
Environmental sciences, Geology
Test of ocean tide loading models on the basis of strain data measured at the Vyhne Tidal Station, Slovakia
Ladislav BRIMICH, Martin BEDNÁRIK, Jozef BÓDI
et al.
Tidal strain time series recorded at the Vyhne Tidal Station are used to test thirteen different ocean tide loading models. Ten models have been calculated using SPOTL: EOT11a, HAMTIDE11a, OSU.TPXO72atlas, OSU.TPXO72, TPX070, DTU10, CSR4.0, FES2004, FES95.2.1, SCHW1 and three other models were chosen from the Free Ocean Tide Loading Provider (FOTLP) created by Scherneck and Bos: FES2012, FES2014b, GOT00.2. Hourly sampled strain data, corrected for temperature, were subjected to correction for ocean tide loading. The test of models was focused on the diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal harmonic constituents O1, P1, K1 and M2. A negligible difference between the individual global ocean tide loading models was only found mainly due to using different Earth models and Green functions. The amplitude factors for O1, P1, K1 and M2 derived from the measurements are 1.019, 1.226, 0.842 and 1.131, respectively. The average amplitude factors for these tidal components were obtained after ocean load correction using SPOTL routines: 1.121, 1.332, 0.916, 1.283, and in the case of the three models using FOTLP: 1.046, 1.486, 1.067, 1.317. The corrected amplitude factor became closer to the theoretical value only for K1.
Geodesy, Geophysics. Cosmic physics
Cosmic Geodesy Contribution to Geodynamics Monitoring
Dáša Bačová, A. Khairutdinov, Filip Gago
The cosmic geodesy provides methods and ways of various data acquisition. The collected data may be used for research, calculations and analysis in different fields of interest. According to the reliability and redundancy of data provided by cosmic geodesy methods, it is possible to contribute to the geodynamics monitoring. The geodynamics monitoring enables the tectonic plates movement tracking and predicts the movements which may result in disasters. Applying data provided by cosmic geodesy methods in the form of permanent observation station positions and their changes in time, in calculations, whose physical nature is based on the continuum mechanics, makes possible to monitor the direction, locality and size of visualised deformation tensors.
Volcano geodesy: A critical tool for assessing the state of volcanoes and their potential for hazardous eruptive activity
M. Poland, E. V. Dalfsen
Abstract Since the beginning of the 20th century, volcano geodesy has evolved from time- and personnel-intensive methods for collecting discrete measurements to automated and/or remote tools that provide data with exceptional spatiotemporal resolution. By acknowledging and overcoming limitations related to data collection and interpretation, geodesy becomes a powerful tool for forecasting the onset and tracking the evolution of volcanic eruptions. In addition, geodetic data can be used for novel applications, such as mapping surface and topographic change due to the emplacement of volcanic deposits, detecting volcanic plumes, and constraining the properties of magmatic systems. These collective capabilities provide critical support for understanding magmatic processes at erupting volcanoes, while also offering important baseline data in advance of potential volcanic unrest. Future developments in volcano geodesy will involve not just new technology, but also advanced modeling and automated analysis methods that will provide a new understanding of the volcanic activity.
GEODESY, CARTOGRAPHY, AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
S. Doskich
The emergence of satellite observations was marked by their widespread use to determine the velocities and direction of horizontal motions of lithosphere plates (modern kinematics of lithosphere plates), which allowed to research the deformation processes at the global and regional levels. Today, permanent GNSS stations cover a large part of the land area. Since many of these stations have accumulated a large amount of daily observation over 20 years, it is possible to trace the deformation processes of certain areas. There is the problem of correct identification of observations of the true parameters of the deformation process. This issue requires the joint work of geophysicists and geodesists. But high-precision time series and values of GNSS station velocities are important and perspective data for the interpretation of geodynamic processes, which are much easier to obtain than geophysical or geological data, do not require special costs and should take into account their active development, the number of such stations is growing rapidly. Today, according to unofficial data, more than 300 reference stations operate in Ukraine. The aim of this work is to detect deformations of the Earth's crust in the Carpathian folded system using GNSS technology. The input data for the research were the observations over eight years (2013-2020) at reference stations in Ukraine (ZAKPOS network). From these observations, the combined solution (coordinates time series and velocities) was calculated using the scientific software GAMIT / GLOBK. According to the obtained data, the horizontal displacements vectors of GNSS stations were also constructed, and the deformations of the Earth's crust were calculated by the method of triangles, the vertices of which are GNSS stations, using the GPS Triangle Strain Calculator software. The calculated values of deformations showed a different geodynamic value, depending on the location of the triangles. In particular, the active zones of stretching (Rakhiv-Verkhovyna and Syanok-Ustryky-Dolishni) and compression (Rakhiv-Khust-Mukachevo) were identified. The research results make it possible to establish the features of the spatial distribution of crustal movement in the Carpathian region and in the future in a joint interpretation with geophysical data to create a regional geodynamic model of the Carpathian folded system.
ICESat‐2 Pointing Calibration and Geolocation Performance
S. B. Luthcke, T. C. Thomas, T. A. Pennington
et al.
Abstract ICESat‐2 science requirements are dependent on the accurate real‐time pointing control (i.e., geolocation control) and postprocessed geolocation knowledge of the laser altimeter surface returns. Prelaunch pointing alignment errors and postlaunch pointing alignment variation result in large geolocation errors that must be calibrated on orbit. In addition, the changing sun‐orbit geometry causes thermal‐mechanical forced laser frame alignment variations at the orbit period and trends from days, weeks, and months. Early mission analysis computed precise postlaunch laser beam alignment calibration. The alignment calibration was uploaded to the spacecraft and enabled the pointing control performance to achieve 4.4 ± 6.0 m, a significant improvement over the 45 m (1 σ) mission requirement. Laser frame alignment calibrations are used to reduce the alignment bias and time variation, as well as the orbital variation contributions to geolocation knowledge error from 6 to 1.7 m (1 σ). Relative beam alignment of the six beams is calibrated and shown to contribute between 0.5 ± 0.1 m and 2.4 ± 0.2 m of remaining geolocation knowledge error. Independent geolocation assessment based on comparison to high‐resolution digital elevation models agrees well with the calibration geolocation error estimates. The analysis demonstrates the ICESat‐2 mission is performing far better than its geolocation knowledge requirement of 6.5 m (1 σ) after the laser frame alignment bias variation and orbital variation calibrations have been applied. Remaining geolocation error is beam dependent and ranges from 2.5 m for beam 6 to 4.4 m for beam 2 (mean + 1 σ).
Mathematical Geodesy
W. Freeden, M. Schreiner
Encyclopedia of Geodesy
VieSched++: A New VLBI Scheduling Software for Geodesy and Astrometry
M. Schartner, J. Böhm
We present a new Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) scheduling software called VieSched++, which is a stand-alone tool of the Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS). The scheduler is written in C++ and aims to be flexible and easy to use, with a modern graphical user interface while creating high-quality schedules. In this work, the general design concepts of the scheduling software are discussed and the major scheduling algorithms are explained. Additionally, deep insight into the optimization criteria is given. First tests demonstrate that VieSched++ is able to generate schedules of highest quality. The software can be downloaded from https://github.com/TUW-VieVS.
Complete three-dimensional near-field surface displacements from imaging geodesy techniques applied to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake
P. He, Yangmao Wen, Caijun Xu
et al.
Abstract The recent development of imaging geodesy, an advanced technique with a high spatial resolution and large-scale coverage, has enabled researchers to obtain multiple high-quality surface displacement estimates at low labor-cost, thereby improving the capability to monitor and manage geological disasters. The different sources (e.g., radar, optical and LiDAR sensors) and analysis approaches (e.g., differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar, DInSAR; multiple-aperture InSAR; pixel offset tracking; and iterative closest point, ICP) in imaging geodesy used to derive displacement estimates have unique benefits and drawbacks. However, the inherent differences among these data sources and methods in the construction of three-dimensional (3D) deformation maps, particularly in the near field, remain poorly understood and require further discussion. In this study, we acquired three pairs of ALOS-2 stripmap mode images, two pairs of Sentinel-1 TOPS mode images and pre- and post-event LiDAR data for the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake to explore the 3D near-field displacements using various imaging geodesy techniques with different types of image information, i.e., SAR phase data, SAR amplitude data and LiDAR point cloud data. Our results show that each image type is independently capable of producing a high-quality 3D deformation map for the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake with an on-fault accuracy of
Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS) for Geodesy and Astrometry
J. Böhm, S. Böhm, Janina Boisits
et al.
The Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS) is state-of-the-art Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) analysis software for geodesy and astrometry. VieVS has been developed at Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) since 2008, where it is used for research purposes and for teaching space geodetic techniques. In the past decade, it has been successfully applied on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations for the determination of celestial and terrestrial reference frames as well as for the estimation of celestial pole offsets, universal Time (UT1-UTC), and polar motion based on least-squares adjustment. Furthermore, VieVS is equipped with tools for scheduling and simulating VLBI observations to extragalactic radio sources as well as to satellites and spacecraft, features which proved to be very useful for a variety of applications. VieVS is now available as version 3.0 and we do provide the software to all interested persons and institutions. A wiki with more information about VieVS is available at http://vievswiki.geo.tuwien.ac.at/.
76 sitasi
en
Physics, Computer Science