Accuracy Assessment of Sea Surface Height Measurement Obtained from Shipborne PPP Positioning
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 4
Abstract
Sea surface height (SSH), a measurement widely used in marine science, can be used to compute the marine gravity field while providing underlying information on the ocean current, tide, and geoid. A traditional SSH measurement relies on tide stations and satellite altimetry. Shipborne SSH measurements not only alleviate the influence of poor nearshore waveforms on satellite altimetry reliability but also enable large-scale surveys. Moreover, it is favored by the high sampling rate and superior spatial resolution. Precise point positioning (PPP) allows operations independent of the land-based station, facilitating flexibility and efficiency. Accordingly, PPP is used to determine the ellipsoid height based on shipborne GPS data. The PPP computations are performed using the Canadian Spatial Reference System (CSRS)–PPP, GrafNav, and Bernese. The results of the CSRS-PPP have better accuracy and are easy to use. The corrections of the height difference between a GPS antenna and sea surface, earth tide, ocean tide, and filtering are tested to obtain an accurate SSH measurement. The corrected SSH accuracy is improved from 206.2 to 22.9 cm based on a crossover analysis. Through the adjustment of the crossover differences, the result shows an accuracy of 7.5 cm. The comparison with the DTU18 mean sea surface (MSS) model shows that the standard deviation of the differences is 21.9 and 11.9 cm for the corrected SSH before and after the adjustment, respectively. The adjusted SSH shows an obvious improvement of 62.2% and 32.8% in the standard deviation of the crossover differences and the differences with the DTU18 MSS model.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code used during the study were provided by a third party (National Central University). Direct requests for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the “Acknowledgments.” Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this research under Contract No. MOST 108-2621-M-305-001. Moreover, the authors acknowledge the use of shipborne data that are freely provided by the National Central University of Taiwan.
References
Alkan, R. M., and T. Öcalan. 2013. “Usability of the GPS precise point positioning technique in marine applications.” J. Navig. 66 (4): 579–588. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0373463313000210.
Alkan, R. M., M. H. Saka, İ. M. Ozulu, and V. İlçi. 2017. “Kinematic precise point positioning using GPS and GLONASS measurements in marine environments.” Measurement 109 (Oct): 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2017.05.054.
Andersen, O. B., P. Knudsen, and L. Stenseng. 2018. “A new DTU18 MSS mean sea surface–improvement from SAR altimetry.” In Proc., 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry Symp. Paris: Centre National D’etudes Spatiales.
Andersen, O. B., G. Piccioni, L. Stenseng, and P. Knudsen. 2016. “The DTU15 MSS (mean sea surface) and DTU15LAT (lowest astronomical tide) reference surface.” In Proc., ESA Living Planet Symp. Paris: European Space Agency.
Boehm, J., A. Niell, P. Tregoning, and H. Schuh. 2006. “Global mapping function (GMF): A new empirical mapping function based on numerical weather model data.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 33 (7): L07304. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025546.
Bouin, M. N., V. Ballu, S. Calmant, and B. Pelletier. 2009. “Improving resolution and accuracy of mean sea surface from kinematic GPS, Vanuatu subduction zone.” J. Geod. 83 (11): 1017–1030. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-009-0320-7.
Breili, K., M. J. R. Simpson, and J. E. Ø. Nilsen. 2017. “Observed sea-level changes along the Norwegian Coast.” J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 5 (3): 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse5030029.
Chen, Y. J. 2010. Sea surface heights around Taiwan from shipborne GPS measurements. Hsinchu, Taiwan: National Chiao Tung Univ.
Chung, Y. D., T. K. Yeh, G. Xu, C. S. Chen, C. Hwang, and H. C. Shih. 2016. “GPS height variations affected by ocean tidal loading along the coast of Taiwan.” IEEE Sens. J. 16 (10): 3697–3704. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2016.2538325.
Dow, J. M., R. E. Neilan, and C. Rizos. 2009. “The international GNSS service in a changing landscape of global navigation satellite systems.” J. Geod. 83 (3): 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-008-0300-3.
DTU (Technical University of Denmark). 2021. “Global mean sea surface.” Accessed January 14, 2020. https://www.space.dtu.dk/english/research/scientific_data_and_models/global_mean_sea_surface.
Felski, A., and K. Zwolak. 2020. “The ocean-going autonomous ship—Challenges and threats.” J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 8 (1): 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8010041.
Foster, J., G. Carter, and M. Merrifield. 2009. “Ship-based measurements of sea surface topography.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 36 (11): L11605. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038324.
Geng, J., F. N. Teferle, X. Meng, and A. H. Dodson. 2010. “Kinematic precise point positioning at remote marine platforms.” GPS Solutions 14 (4): 343–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-009-0157-9.
Guo, J., Z. Dong, Z. Tan, X. Liu, C. Chen, and C. Hwang. 2016. “A crossover adjustment for improving sea surface height mapping from in-situ high rate ship-borne GNSS data using PPP technique.” Cont. Shelf Res. 125 (Aug): 54–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2016.07.002.
Hwang, C., Y. S. Hsiao, and H. C. Shih. 2006. “Data reduction for scalar airborne gravimetry: Theory, computer package and a case study in Taiwan.” Comput. Geosci. 32 (10): 1573–1584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2006.02.015.
Hwang, C., and B. Parsons. 1996. “An optimal procedure for deriving marine gravity from multi-satellite altimetry.” Geophys. J. Int. 125 (3): 705–718. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1996.tb06018.x.
Jai, P. H. 2012. GPS determination of ship attitude for improving shipborne sea surface height. Hsinchu, Taiwan: National Chiao Tung Univ.
Matsumoto, K., T. Takanezawa, and M. Ooe. 2000. “Ocean tide models developed by assimilating TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data into hydrodynamical model: A global model and a regional model around Japan.” J. Oceanogr. 56 (5): 567–581. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011157212596.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association). 2021. “ETOPO1 1 arc-minute global relief model.” Accessed January 14, 2020. https://data.noaa.gov/dataset/dataset/etopo1-1-arc-minute-global-relief-model.
Pujol, M. I., Y. Faugere, G. Taburet, S. Dupuy, C. Pelloquin, M. Ablain, and N. Picot. 2016. “DUACS DT2014: The new multi-mission altimeter data set reprocessed over 20 years.” Ocean Sci. 12 (5): 1067–1090. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-1067-2016.
Stammer, D., R. D. Ray, O. B. Andersen, B. K. Arbic, W. Bosch, L. Carrere, and Y. Cheng. 2014. “Accuracy assessment of global barotropic ocean tide models.” Rev. Geophys. 52 (3): 243–282. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014RG000450.
Takanezawa, T., K. Matsumoto, M. Ooe, and I. Naito. 2001. “Effects of the long-period ocean tides on Earth rotation, gravity and crustal deformation predicted by global barotropic model—Periods from Mtm to Sa.” J. Geod. Soc. Japan 47 (1): 545–550. https://doi.org/10.11366/sokuchi1954.47.545.
van Dam, T., and R. Ray. 2010. “S1 and S2 atmospheric tide loading effects for geodetic applications.” Accessed January 14, 2020. https://geophy.uni.lu/atmosphere/tide-loading-calculator/ATM1OnlineCalculator/.
Yeh, T. K., Y. D. Chung, C. T. Wu, C. S. Wang, K. Zhang, and C. H. Chen. 2012. “Identifying the relationship between GPS data quality and positioning precision: Case study on IGS tracking stations.” J. Surv. Eng. 138 (3): 136–142. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)SU.1943-5428.0000077.
Yeh, T. K., J. S. Hong, C. S. Wang, C. H. Chen, K. H. Chen, and C. T. Fong. 2016. “Determining the precipitable water vapor with ground-based GPS and comparing its yearly variation to rainfall over Taiwan.” Adv. Space Res. 57 (12): 2496–2507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2016.04.002.
Yeh, T. K., C. Hwang, J. F. Huang, B. F. Chao, and M. H. Chang. 2011. “Vertical displacement due to ocean tidal loading around Taiwan based on GPS observations.” Terr. Atmos. Oceanic Sci. 22 (4): 373–382. https://doi.org/10.3319/TAO.2011.01.27.01(T).
Yeh, T. K., C. Hwang, and G. Xu. 2008. “GPS height and gravity variations due to ocean tidal loading around Taiwan.” Surv. Geophys. 29 (1): 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-008-9041-3.
Yuan, J., J. Guo, X. Liu, C. Zhu, Y. Niu, Z. Li, B. Ji, and Y. Ouyang. 2020a. “Mean sea surface model over China seas and its adjacent ocean established with the 19-year moving average method from multi-satellite altimeter data.” Cont. Shelf Res. 192 (1): 104009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2019.104009.
Yuan, J., J. Guo, Y. Niu, C. Zhu, and Z. Li. 2020b. “Mean sea surface model over the sea of Japan determined from multi-satellite altimeter data and tide gauge records.” Remote Sens. 12 (24): 4168. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12244168.
Zhu, C., J. Guo, C. Hwang, J. Gao, J. Yuan, and X. Liu. 2019. “How HY-2A/GM altimeter performs in marine gravity derivation: Assessment in the South China Sea.” Geophys. J. Int. 219 (2): 1056–1064. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggz330.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 4 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 23, 2020
Accepted: Jun 13, 2021
Published online: Sep 7, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 7, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Sander Varbla, Aive Liibusk, Artu Ellmann, Shipborne GNSS-Determined Sea Surface Heights Using Geoid Model and Realistic Dynamic Topography, Remote Sensing, 10.3390/rs14102368, 14, 10, (2368), (2022).
- Aive Liibusk, Sander Varbla, Artu Ellmann, Kaimo Vahter, Rivo Uiboupin, Nicole Delpeche-Ellmann, Shipborne GNSS acquisition of sea surface heights in the Baltic Sea, Journal of Geodetic Science, 10.1515/jogs-2022-0131, 12, 1, (1-21), (2022).