The MRNF GPS network

Over the last ten years, the Ministère des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF^*) of Quebec, Canada, has been established a network of 26 permanent GPS stations, mostly across the south and south-east of Quebec province, in order to respond to its needs for positioning within its territory (Figure 1). The sites are all located on geodetic points clear of all obstructions and provide observation files in the RINEX version 2 format (Géoboutique-Québec, 2011). Five stations of the MRNF GPS network, i.e., ALGO, BAIE, KUJJ, SCH2, and VALD are part of the IGS stations, and thus are considered as IGS stations in this study. Although the MRNF GPS network was not initially designed and built for geodesy and geodynamics studies, the figure shows that they have a good spatial distribution around the Saint Lawrence valley. Despite the good spatial distribution, stability of GPS antenna is not assured at the accuracy level required for geodynamic studies. This is because they have been mounted on the building roofs.

Figure 1. Spatial distribution of the selected GPS sites in the Saint Lawrence valley. The MRNF GPS network sites have a good spatial distribution around the Saint Lawrence river

In this figure, PEPS belongs to Laval University, and LPOC is managed by the federal government, GEOR, HULL and SRBK sites have been decommissioned and then substituted by the GEOG, GATI and SHER sites, respectively. GATI and SHER have been also relocated (Y. Thériault, personal communication, October 17, 2011). This was tested for HULL station by comparing coordinates of HULL (45.4266°N, 75.7114°W) with coordinates of GATI (45.4809°N, 75.6890°W), which are apparently different.

^*MRNF: Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife

References

Géoboutique-Québec. (2011). Données GPS des stations de référence permanentes. Ministre des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune. Retrieved September 18, 2011, from http://geoboutique.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/html/GPS_fiche.htm.