Producing Coordinate Time Series for Iraq's CORS Site for Detection Geophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become an integral part of wide range of applications. One of these applications of GNSS is implementation of the cellular phone to locate the position of users and this technology has been employed in social media applications. Moreover, GNSS have been effectively employed in transportation, GIS, mobile satellite communications, and etc. On the other hand, the geomatics sciences use the GNSS for many practical and scientific applications such as surveying and mapping and monitoring, etc.

In this study, the GNSS raw data of ISER CORS, which is located in the North of Iraq, are processed and analyzed to build up coordinate time series for the purpose of detection the Arabian tectonic plate motion over seven years and a half. Such coordinates time series have been produced very efficiently using GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP). The daily PPP results were processed, analyzed, and presented as coordinate time series using GPS Interactive Time Series Analysis. Furthermore, MATLAB (V.2013a) is used in this study to computerize GITSA with Graphic User Interface (GUI).

The objective of this study was to investigate both of the homogeneity and consistency of the Iraq CORSs GNSS raw data for detection any geophysical changes over long period of time. Additionally, this study aims to employ free online PPP services, such as CSRS_PPP software, for processing GNSS raw data for generation GNSS coordinate time series.

The coordinate time series of ISER station showed a +20.9 mm per year, +27.2 mm per year, and -11.3 mm per year in the East, North, and up-down components, respectively. These findings showed a remarkable similarity with those obtained by long-term monitoring of Earth's crust deformation and movement based on global studies and this highlights the importance of using GNSS for monitoring the movement of tectonic plate motion based on CORS and online GNSS data processing services over long period of time.