GNSS applications for Earth Science.

In the last two decades, the rapid growth in continuous Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) networks allowed the acquisition of continuous and spatially extensive datasets over large regions of Earth, significantly increasing the range of geoscience applications. In addition, the promising results obtained by the scientific community and the free availability of data, which permitted drastic cost reductions, have drawn increasing interest from the administrative managing office for the mapping and monitoring of ground deformation issues. The GNSS technique provides a set of 3D geodetic observations at a limited number of points on the ground surface and its continuous technological development is currently offering a wide range of new applications for solid and fluid Earth investigations. This contribute aims to provide a general overview of some geoscience applications of GNSS technique, commonly used to study the surface deformation related to co- and post-seismic deformation, subsurface movements of magma beneath active volcanoes, soil deformation (natural/anthropic uplift/subsidence), monitoring of landslide, monitoring of industrial settlements, ice sheets motion, etc.