Present-Day Crustal Velocity Field in Ecuador from cGPS Position Time Series

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Mar 21;23(6):3301. doi: 10.3390/s23063301.

Abstract

The present study analyzes the GNSS time series obtained between the years 2017 and 2022 for the calculation of absolute and residual rates of Ecuador in 10 stations (ABEC, CUEC, ECEC, EPEC, FOEC, GZEC, MUEC, PLEC, RIOP, SEEC, TPC) of the continuous monitoring REGME network. Considering that the latest studies refer to periods 2012-2014 and Ecuador is located in an area of high seismic activity, it is important to update the GNSS rates. The RINEX data were provided by the Military Geographic Institute of Ecuador, the governing institution of geoinformation in that country; for processing, GipsyX scientific software was used with a PPP mode, considering 24 h sessions, and high precision was achieved. For the analysis of time series, the SARI platform was used. The series was modeled using a least-squares adjustment, which delivered the velocities for each station in the three local topocentric components. The results were contrasted with other studies, obtaining interesting conclusions as the presence of abnormal post-seismic rates stands out due to the high rate of seismic occurrence in Ecuador, and reaffirms the idea of a constant update of velocities for the Ecuadorian territory and the inclusion of the stochastic factor in the analysis of GNSS time series, since it can affect the ability to obtain the final GNSS velocities.

Keywords: Ecuador; GNSS; PPP; time series.

Grants and funding

This work has been funded by Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020—call made by University of Jaen in 2018, Ref. 1263446, POAIUJA 2023/2024, CEACTEMA, and RNM282 research group of Junta de Andalucía. The GNSS data were facilitated by the IGM (Military Geographic Institute of Ecuador), the institution responsible for the geoinformation in that country.