AGATE

The project aims to determine exact positions and gravity values at globally distributed reference stations; their long-term changes, their analysis and the interaction between geometry and gravity allow conclusions to be drawn about dynamic processes in the Earth's interior and exterior. The project participates strongly in international services for the above mentioned objectives. This task is concretized in subprojects.

I. This includes the daily evaluation of GPS observations at about 50 stations in the Mediterranean as an analysis center of the European Reference System and the dissemination of the results by means of information systems; geodetic-geodynamic network analyses allow conclusions to be drawn about plate tectonics and the Earth's interior, as well as contributions to the elucidation of episodic movements caused by earthquakes.

Il. For determination of the gravity field, European gravity reference networks for the geodetic bases of the participating countries are being worked on in cooperation. Methods for efficient determination of the earth's gravity field from aircraft are being developed. Satellite geodetic methods play a decisive role.

The project is funded by the Free State of Bavaria since 2016 under the name Erdmessung und Glaziologie .