[1] Using up to 11 years of data from a global network of Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, including 12 stations well distributed across the Pacific Plate, we derive present-day Euler vectors for the Pacific Plate more precisely than has previously been possible from space geodetic data. After rejecting on statistical grounds the velocity of one station on each of the Pacific and North American plates, we find that the quality of fit of the horizontal velocities of 11 Pacific Plate (PA) stations to the best fitting PA Euler vector is similar to the fit of 11 Australian Plate (AU) velocities to the AU Euler vector and $20% better than the fit of nine North American Plate (NA) velocities to the NA Euler vector. The velocities of stations on the Pacific and Australian Plates each fit a rigid plate model with an RMS residual of 0.4 mm/yr, while the North American velocities fit a rigid plate model with an RMS velocity of 0.6 mm/yr. Our best fitting PA/AU relative Euler vector is located $170 km southeast of the NUVEL-1A pole but is not significantly different at the 95% confidence level. It is also close (<70 km in position and <3% in rate) to a pole derived from transform faults identified from satellite altimetry, suggesting that the vector has not changed significantly over the past 3 Myr. Our relative Euler vector is also consistent with all known geological and geodetic evidence concerning the AU/PA plate boundary through New Zealand. The GPS sites offshore of southern California are presently moving 4-5 ± 1 mm/yr relative to predicted Pacific velocity, with their residual velocities in approximately the opposite direction to PA/NA relative motion. Likewise, the easternmost sites in South Island, New Zealand, are moving $3 ± 1 mm/yr relative to predicted Pacific velocity, with the residuals in approximately the opposite direction to PA/AU relative motion. These velocity residuals are in the same sense as predicted by elastic strain accumulation on known plate boundary faults but are of a significantly higher magnitude in both southern California and New Zealand, implying that the plate boundary zones in both regions are wider than previously believed.

A dense network of continuous single‐ and dual‐frequency GPS receivers at Taal Volcano, Philippines, reveals four major stages of volcanogenic deformation: deflation, from installation in June 1998 to December 1998; inflation, from January to March 1999; deflation, from April 1999 to February 2000; and inflation, from February to November 2000. The largest displacements occurred during the February–November 2000 period of inflation, which was characterized by ∼120 mm of uplift of the center of Volcano Island relative to the northern caldera rim at average rates up to 216 mm/yr. Deformation sources were modeled using a constrained least squares inversion algorithm. The source of 1999 deflation and inflation in 2000 were modeled as contractional and dilatational Mogi point sources centered at 4.2 and 5.2 km depth, respectively, beneath Volcano Island. The locations of the inflationary and deflationary sources are indistinguishable within the 95% confidence estimates. Modeling using a running 4‐month time window from June 1999 to March 2001 reveals little evidence for source migration. We suggest that the two periods of inflation observed at Taal result from episodic intrusions of magma into a shallow reservoir centered beneath Volcano Island. Subsequent deflation may result from exsolution of magmatic fluids and/or gases into an overlying, unconfined hydrothermal system.

[1] Site-dependent errors such as antenna phase-center variations, multipath, and scattering can have a significant effect on high-precision applications of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Determination of these errors has proven to be elusive since no method has been developed to measure these effects accurately in situ. We have designed and constructed a prototype Antenna and Multipath Calibration System (AMCS) to obtain such in situ corrections. The primary components of the AMCS are a steerable parabolic antenna, two GPS receivers, and a computer for control and data-logging functions. We obtain phase corrections for site-dependent errors by forming the difference between the carrier-beat phases from the GPS antenna to be calibrated and from the AMCS antenna, which is relatively free of such errors. Preliminary ''sky maps'' of the antenna phase and multipath contributions show root-mean-square (RMS) phase variations that are a factor of 10 or more greater than the AMCS system noise, which is $0.5 mm. To explore the source of this ''noise,'' we acquired observations over small (few degrees) patches of the sky. From the analysis of these experiments we concluded that the source of the phase variations was antenna and multipath errors that vary by $5 mm amplitude over small changes in satellite direction. Thus, for example, differences of 1°in elevation angle can result in several millimeter variations in phase. Similarly, small variations in azimuth angle can also result in significant phase variations. We have also observed day-to-day millimeter-level changes in the calibration. We hypothesize that these phase variations are due to changes in multipath caused by changes in the local electromagnetic environment associated with, e.g., weather.

Performance of High-Rate Kinematic GPS During Strong Shaking: Observations from Shake Table Tests and the 2010 Chile EarthquakeOver the last decade, the 1-sample-per-second kinematic Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used as a displacement sensor in earthquake observations and for structural health monitoring. Many researchers in both seismology and engineering have expressed the desire for higher-sample-rate (10-sample-per-second or higher) GPS data to acquire high-frequency displacement information. We performed several shake table tests of GPS observation on 29 April, 2009 for the purpose of evaluating the performance of high-rate kinematic GPS. We found that the accuracy of high-rate kinematic GPS depended on antenna movement, but was independent of receiver sampling rate. The errors in kinematic GPS measurements during the periods of strong shaking were systematically larger than those during the static periods. Furthermore, we found that these large errors were coincident with large accelerations and jerks in the motions experienced by the GPS receivers and antennas. Observations from the 2010 earthquake in Maule, Chile (M 8.8) indicated that strong ground motions can degrade the accuracy of high-rate kinematic GPS measurements. Significant jerks and/or accelerations can cause GPS units to temporarily lose tracking on satellite signals and lead to gaps in GPS-recorded seismograms.

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