The Intra-Plate Velocities of GPS Permanent Stations of the Eastern Alps

Since 2000 the GPS (Global Positioning System) permanent stations in Austria are monitored at a weekly basis, applying the international guidelines of analysis centres of IGS [1] (IGS = International GNSS Service, GNSS = Global Navigation Satellite System) and EPN (European Permanent Network). The number of stations was about 80 at the beginning of 2007. Station velocities have been derived from coordinate time series by taking into account offsets and detecting outliers. The estimated velocities have a precision of 1 mm/year laterally and 1‐3 mm/year vertically. These velocities are reduced by the rotational velocity of the Eurasian Plate, derived from ITRF2000 (International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000) [3], in order to investigate intra-plate movements. Apart from some local movements the velocities are in the range of 0‐3 mm/year, but can already be grouped into different clusters. The movement of the Alpine Forelands is identical to the rotation of the Eurasian Plate whereas the region between the Alps and the Dinarides seems to undergo an eastward movement. Within the Eastern Alps the situation is still unclear due to some reasons, e.g., young stations, poor coverage and local movements. Kurzfassung