Comparative analysis among Asia–Pacific geoid models stored at the ISG repository

Abstract

Geoid models have important applications in geosciences as well as engineering, for example, for the conversion from ellipsoidal heights observed by GNSS techniques to orthometric heights. To meet the user’s demands, the International Service for the Geoid (ISG, https://www.isgeoid.polimi.it/) provides access to a repository of local, regional, and continental geoid models through its website. Among hundreds of worldwide models, there are many covering countries in the Asia–Pacific area. The focus of this study is about this region, performing a series of analyses to assess the geoid models stored in the ISG repository through some relative comparisons. In particular, three kinds of analyses are performed with the purpose of: (a) investigating the evolution in time of a geoid series referring to the same country, (b) comparing the information provided by local and regional geoid models on overlapped areas, and (c) assessing the agreement between local and global models. These analyses are firstly performed on sample models, providing a detailed description, and then applied to all Asia–Pacific geoid models currently stored in the ISG repository, providing summary statistics.