Recent crustal movements observed with the European VLBI network: geodetic analysis and results

Purely European geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) has been performed at regular intervals since January 1990. Meanwhile 10 VLBI sites in Europe from Sicily to Spitzbergen and the Iberian peninsula to the Crimean peninsula contribute to the observation series. The observations are used to determine recent crustal movements in these parts of Europe. Baseline measurements are achieved with an accuracy of 2.0 mm. plus an additional term depending on the baseline length of less than I part-per-billion. Significant horizontal crustal movements are determined with relative accuracies in the range of 10-40%, significant vertical crustal movements are determined with relative accuracies in the range of 30-40%. The determined crustal movements form thus a sound basis for interpretations in a geophysical and geological context. This article concentrates on a description of the geodetic VLBI data analysis, the analysis models used and the results for crustal movements. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.