Determining crustal strain rates with a spaceborne geodynamics ranging system. 2: Station coordinate analysis

The use of a spaceborne geodynamics ranging system for determining crustal strain rates is analyzed. The use of site coordinates rather than intersite baseline distances for the strain rate determinations is emphasized. After discussing the analytical techniques which are to be employed, numerical results are presented which suggest that the use of site coordinates would result in a 20-70% improvement in the precision of the deduced values of straining. Precision of a few parts in 10 to the 9th power would be achievable with simple geometrics and a decade or two of measurements; precisions of a few parts in 10 to the 8th power would be achievable in a few years. A consideration of possible correlations among the derived target site coordinates leads to the conclusion that, with the proper choice of coordinate systems, the correlations can be made small and non-detrimental to the strain rate determinations.