Methodology for local correction of the heights of global geoid models to improve the accuracy of GNSS leveling

Abstract

At present, one of the methods used to determine the height of points on the Earth's surface is Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) leveling. It is possible to determine the orthometric or normal height by this method only if there is a geoid or quasi-geoid height model available. This paper proposes the methodology for local correction of the heights of high-order global geoid models such as EGM08, EIGEN-6C4, GECO, and XGM2019e_2159. This methodology was tested in different areas of the research field, covering various relief forms. The dependence of the change in corrected height accuracy on the input data was analyzed, and the correction was also conducted for model heights in three tidal systems: “tide free”, “mean tide”, and “zero tide”. The results show that the heights of EIGEN-6C4 model can be corrected with an accuracy of up to 1 cm for flat and foothill terrains with the dimensionality of $1°\times 1°,2°\times 2°,and3°\times 3°$. The EGM08 model presents an almost identical result. The EIGEN-6C4 model is best suited for mountainous relief and provides an accuracy of 1.5 cm on the $1°\times 1°$ area. The height correction accuracy of GECO and XGM2019e_2159 models is slightly poor, which has fuzziness in terms of numerical fluctuation.