{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T15:27:55Z","timestamp":1772119675393,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]],"date-time":"2023-06-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1686268800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["41721003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41721003"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["42030105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42030105"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["41631072"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41631072"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["41874023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41874023"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["42274011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42274011"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["41974034"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41974034"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["42204006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42204006"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)","award":["2020-228"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020-228"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["41721003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41721003"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["42030105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42030105"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["41631072"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41631072"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["41874023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41874023"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["42274011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42274011"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["41974034"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41974034"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["42204006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42204006"]}]},{"name":"Space Station Project","award":["2020-228"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020-228"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) aims to establish the International Height Reference System (IHRS) as one of its primary scientific objectives. Central to the realization of the IHRS is global vertical datum unification, which requires the connection of existing local vertical height reference systems (VHS) robustly and consistently. However, conventional methods are not suitable for estimating the offsets between two distant local height systems. In this paper, we propose a framework for connecting two local VHSs using ultraprecise clock frequency signal links between satellites and ground stations, referred to as the satellite frequency signal transmission (SFST) approach. The SFST approach allows for the direct determination of the geopotential and height differences between two ground datum stations without any location restrictions between the two VHSs. The simulation results show that the VHSs of China and the US can be unified with an accuracy of several centimeters, provided that the stability of atomic clocks used on-board the satellite and at on-ground datum locations reaches 4.8\u00d710\u221217\u03c4\u22121\/2 for an averaging time \u03c4 (in seconds). We conclude that the SFST approach shows promise for achieving centimeter-level accuracy in unifying the global vertical height datum and represents a new paradigm for the realization of the IHRS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs15123020","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]],"date-time":"2023-06-09T08:37:33Z","timestamp":1686299853000},"page":"3020","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Unification of a Global Height System at the Centimeter-Level Using Precise Clock Frequency Signal Links"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7261-1068","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ziyu","family":"Shen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9267-5982","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wenbin","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Time and Frequency Geodesy Center, Department of Geophysics, School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China"},{"name":"Division of Geodetic Science, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}]},{"given":"Shuangxi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Time and Frequency Geodesy Center, Department of Geophysics, School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9378-4067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C. K.","family":"Shum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Geodetic Science, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6194-9661","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tengxu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]},{"given":"Lin","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]},{"given":"Zhan","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]},{"given":"Si","family":"Xiong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1212-023X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lingxuan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Resource, Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"IERS Conventions (2010)","volume":"36","author":"Petit","year":"2010","journal-title":"IERS Tech. 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