Earth is a dynamic planet as illustrated by its evolving shape and topography. Earthquakes and volcanoes are features that reflect the movements of Earth’s tectonic plates and microplates. Geodesy is the science of accurately measuring the geometric shape of the Earth, its orientation in space, and its gravity field, allowing the understanding of the changes of these properties with time. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) refers to a constellation of satellites providing signals from space that transmit positioning and timing data to GNSS receivers, which use this data to determine location. Geodesists can monitor the movement of a site with time by using GNSS data.
The Thematic Core Service (TCS) GNSS Data and Products provides access to data, metadata, scientific products and services, through the European Plate Observing System (EPOS), to foster research on geodesy and solid Earth science. The EPOS TCS GNSS is also coordinating the archiving of relevant GNSS data, metadata and data products, promoting best practices for GNSS station operation, data quality control and data management, maintaining and developing GNSS data products and open source software. These efforts are done in close partnership with the geodetic GNSS community represented by EUREF, the IAG sub-commission for the European Reference Frame.
The open-source GLASS platform, developed by the TCS GNSS in collaboration with the geodetic community, will allow users to store and disseminate data and metadata from an integrated network of GNSS stations operating in Europe. High-quality computed products provided by the TCS include accurate antenna positions, time series, velocities, and strain rate fields at different points in the Earth’s surface.
Data and services provided by the TCS GNSS will help the study of the Earth’s surface motion in different timescales, such as the rapid shaking caused by an earthquake or the slow-paced movement of tectonic plates. Besides, integrating GNSS Data and Products with other data provided by EPOS TCSs fosters multidisciplinary research at a pan-European and global level. The TCS ambition is to increase the number of available GNSS data at the European level and generate new scientific products based on this larger number of stations to foster open science and progress in Earth Science.