Multi-quadric collocation model of horizontal crustal movement

Abstract. To establish the horizontal crustal movement velocity field of the Chinese mainland, a Hardy multi-quadric fitting model and collocation are usually used, but the kernel function, nodes, and smoothing factor are difficult to determine in the Hardy function interpolation, and in the collocation model the covariance function of the stochastic signal must be carefully constructed. In this paper, a new combined estimation method for establishing the velocity field, based on collocation and multi-quadric equation interpolation, is presented. The crustal movement estimation simultaneously takes into consideration an Euler vector as the crustal movement trend and the local distortions as the stochastic signals, and a kernel function of the multi-quadric fitting model substitutes for the covariance function of collocation. The velocities of a set of 1070 reference stations were obtained from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC), and the corresponding velocity field established using the new combined estimation method. A total of 85 reference stations were used as check points, and the precision in the north and east directions was 1.25 and 0.80 mm yr−1, respectively. The result obtained by the new method corresponds with the collocation method and multi-quadric interpolation without requiring the covariance equation for the signals.