PREDICTION OF ANOMOLUS POTENTIAL RELATED PARAMETERS FROM GPS DATA IN SAUDI ARABIA USING LEAST-SQURE COLLOCATION

 

 

by

 

Osman M. Abou‑Beih

Dafer Ali Algarni

College of Engineering, King Saud University,

P.O.Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia.

 

 

 

ABSTRACT:

GPS-derived ellipsoidal heights, at points of known orthometric heights, were used for the derivation of  geoid undulations. Such undulations were then converted into values of the anomalous potential potential at those points. The covariance function of that potential was then estimated and advocated as being the cardinal function from which other covariances of the different elements of  the anomalous field were derived by covariance propagation. The techniques of least-square collocation was then manipulated for estimating the covariances of the anomalous potential related parameters such as gravity anomalies and the two components of the deflection of the vertical, at prespecified grid points. Contour charts were prepared for those parameters of the anomalous potential in Saudi Arabia. Analysis of the results showed that the precision of the the derived elements is dependent on that of the orthometric heights of the data points.

 

 

Published in the Civil Engineering Research Magazine (CERM), Al-Azhar University, Egypt, pp. 261-277.