Contributions to the Deformation Analysis in Germany Based on Precise and Continuous GPS Measurements

Issue Title: Special Issue German Research Network Natural Disasters: Towards an Integrated Risk Assessment - Case Studies in Germany Modern space geodetic techniques enable deformation monitoring of continental plate interiors with high spatial and temporal coverage. Resolving data and results are currently evaluated for their application for the integrated assessment of seismic hazard and risk in Germany. This goes especially for regions where earthquakes are generally rare but high magnitudes are still not unrealistic while vulnerability of today's society is steadily growing. The present contribution deals with the continuous monitoring of tectonic fracture systems in Germany using the GPS. The estimation of the station velocities with GPS and the resulting geodetic strain is supposed to provide additional input to the earthquake hazard assessment. Unfortunately, the low expected and currently seen velocities (