ELGN background and data protocol

Project background

The Eifel Laachersee GNSS Network is a dense geodetic monitoring network focused on the Laacher See volcanic region. Its purpose is to support long-term observation of crustal deformation, volcanic and geodynamic processes, hydrological-loading-related signals, and possible transient deformation associated with local seismicity.

This demonstrator presents station locations, coordinate time-series plots, CSV-based comparison tools, station velocity estimates and a first uniform horizontal strain analysis. The portal is intended to make selected products easier to inspect and to support discussions with project partners and scientific collaborators.

Scientific status: Products shown here are research products and demonstrator outputs. They are not an official hazard-warning service. Interpretation of small deformation signals requires careful treatment of offsets, data gaps, equipment changes, seasonal signals, loading corrections, outliers and velocity uncertainties.

For public users

View station locations and basic metadata.
Inspect public overview plots and demonstrator products.
Use the material for general information, teaching and non-commercial communication with proper acknowledgement.
Do not interpret short-term fluctuations as confirmed volcanic unrest without scientific context.

For scientific collaborators

Use derived products for method development, comparison studies and collaborative research.
Notify the network team before substantial scientific use, especially for deformation interpretation in the Laacher See volcanic field.
Discuss co-authorship when the network team contributes substantially to processing, quality control, custom products, interpretation or operation.
Do not redistribute restricted products or raw observations without written permission.

Data categories and access rules

Category	Examples	Access and use
A. Public information	Station map, station metadata, public figures, selected overview plots	Open for public viewing and non-commercial reuse with acknowledgement of the Eifel Laachersee GNSS Network and GFZ/project partners.
B. Derived scientific products	Coordinate solutions, coordinate time series, velocities, displacement products, strain demonstrators, tropospheric products	Available for registered or approved scientific use. Users should cite/acknowledge the network, preserve product provenance, and avoid redistribution to third parties unless explicitly permitted.
C. Raw and operational data	Raw GNSS observations/RINEX, internal quality-control information	Restricted to the network team, project members and approved collaborations. Access requires explicit authorization.

Use, citation and collaboration protocol

Attribution

Public and scientific users should acknowledge the Eifel Laachersee GNSS Network, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, and the relevant project partners. When a data paper, DOI or project publication is assigned, it should be cited as the preferred reference.

Scientific priority

The network operators retain scientific priority for network design, station performance, processing strategy, quality control and first analyses of newly generated or unpublished products. Research directly addressing crustal deformation, volcanic unrest, magma-related processes or regional strain evolution should be coordinated with the network team at an early stage.

Redistribution

Derived products should not be mirrored, re-archived or redistributed as a third-party service without permission. Raw observations and operational data are not public by default.

Current demonstrator products

Station mapCoordinate time seriesCSV comparisonVelocity fieldUniform strain tensor

The velocity and strain page estimates station velocities from selected CSV files over a user-defined time window. The strain result is a first uniform affine horizontal model for the selected station group, not yet a final publication-level strain map.