Functional and stochastic modelling of satellite gravity data

Abstract

been of great value to this work and to my own personal development as a researcher. Moreover, he initiated the software development of the energy balance approach, the variance component estimation and the inversion of the GPS site displacements.Many thanks go my promotor Roland Klees. His feedback and support, especially since Jürgen Kusche left our group, are highly appreciated. Furthermore, I would like to thank all my colleagues at the Physical and Space Geodesy group. Special thanks to my room mate Bas Alberts for all the fun and fruitful discussions we had during our MSc and PhD periods. I will not forget the conversations with Relly van Wingaarden on Barbie dolls, horses and Chinese climbing walls. Moreover, she has been of great support throughout the years for all the non-scientiÀc tasks. I should also mention Mark-Willem Jansen for the discussions we had on the inversion of GPS and GRACE observations and for all the small talks we had on different subjects. Many thanks go to Rene Reudink for all the technical support, Xianglin Liu for the company during the many hours we worked together in the weekends and evenings, and Shizhuo Liu for all the funny conversations we had throughout the years.I would like to thank the members of the committee for proofreading this thesis. Special thanks to Michael Sideris for his constructive feedback on editorial issues. The CHAMP satellite data was kindly provided by the IAPG in Munich, the GRACE data was downloaded from the CSR data base and the Swiss GPS/levelling data was provided by Urs Marti from the Federal OfÀce of Topography Swisstopo.However, this thesis would never have been completed without the support of my family and friends. I will not forget all the nice words I received during the period of illness of my sister Barbara. I am lucky that I had plenty of possibilities to relax; playing volleyball, the funny activities at Scouting Halsteren, and my trips to Africa.I would like to thank my parents for their endless support, but most importantly for creating a place and atmosphere I consider home. The last words of thanks go to my sister Barbara. Her strength in difÀcult periods has been an example for many, including me.