[G07-1] GGOS activities and focus on gravity

[G07-1-02] The GGOS Bureau of Networks and Observations: Activities and Plans

^○Michael R. Pearlmaan¹, Chopo Ma², Ruth Neilan³, Carey E. Noll², Erricos Pavlis⁴, Jerome Saunier⁵, Tilo Schoene⁶, Riccardo Barzaghi⁷, Daniela Thaller⁸, Sten Bergstrand⁹, Juergen Mueller¹⁰ (1.Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, United States, 2.NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, 3.Jet Propulsion Laboratory/CalTech, Pasadena, CA, United States, 4.University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States, 5.Institut Geographique National, Saint Mande Cedex, France, 6.GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany, 7.Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, 8.Bundesamt fuer Kartographie und Geodaesie, Frankfurt, Germany, 9.SP Swedish Technical Research Institute, Boras, Sweden, 10.Institut fuer Erdmessung, Hannover, Germany)

invited

Working with the IAG geometric services (VLBI, SLR, GNSS, and DORIS) the Bureau continues to advocate for the expansion and upgrade of the space geodesy networks for the maintenance and improvement of the reference frame and other application, and for the extension and integration with other techniques. New sites are being established following the GGOS concept of “core" and co-location sites; new technologies are being implemented to enhance performance in data yield as well as accuracy. Several groups are undertaking initiatives and seeking partnerships to update existing sites and expand the networks in geographic areas currently void of coverage. The Bureau continues to meet with organizations to discuss possibilities of new and expanded participation and to promote the concept of partnerships. The Bureau provides the opportunity for representatives from the services to meet and share progress and plans, and to discuss issues of common interest. The Bureau monitors the status and projects the evolution of the network based on information from the current and expected future participants. Of particular interest at the moment is the integration of gravity and tide gauge networks. The Committees and Joint Working Groups play an essential role in the Bureau activities: using simulation and analysis techniques to project future network capability and to examine trade-off options, working on strategies for GGOS metadata systems, enhancing communication with the space missions and advocating for missions that support GGOS goals, working to enhance standardization in ground survey procedures and encouraging participation of new survey groups.

The 2007–2018 Implementation Plan for the GGOS Bureau of Networks and Observations has been posted on the GGOS website. We will outline progress over the past two years and discuss the status of the network and updated plan.