*************************************************************************** IERS Message No. 29 June 13, 2002 *************************************************************************** FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT IERS WORKSHOP on COMBINATION RESEARCH and GLOBAL GEOPHYSICAL FLUIDS The main goal of the workshop will be the improvement of all the various IERS products in accuracy, consistency, stability, timeliness, user-friendly access, and documentation, to make first steps towards a rigorous combination of the various products and thus to contribute significantly to the realization of an "International Global Geodetic Observation System" (IGGOS). It should therefore involve all the major components of the IERS. The workshop will be held at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in Munich, November 11 - 14, 2002. The workshop will be divided into two strongly related parts: the first two days of the workshop will cover the different aspects of the comparison and combination of the results of all major space geodetic techniques and the following two days will focus on the IERS Global Geophysical Fluid Center (GGFC), the present status of its products as well as its role in future. The first part of the workshop will thus concentrate on the three primary IERS products, namely the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF), and the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP; including the new IAU recommendations) and the rigorous combination of these three components into a consistent set of high-accuracy products. To reach such a goal also the IERS conventions and standards for modeling, parameterization and analysis strategies will have to be considered. In view of the requirements of the new satellite missions and the demanding questions concerning global change and the interaction of the Earth's System, these products and their accuracy and consistency become of more and more importance. Therefore, the individual strengths of all observation techniques and their respective services have to be taken into account in the integration procedure. With the IERS EOP Alignment Campaign and the IERS SINEX Combination Campaign major activities of the Combination Research Centers (CRCs), Products Centers (PCs) and other interested parties are already on the way to study and improve the primary set of IERS products and reports on the progress made in this field will be of major importance for this workshop. Approaching the 5th anniversary of the establishment of IERSī Global Geophysical Fluids Center (GGFC) the second part of the workshop will take an insightful review of what has been reached, and plan for the future while further define the roles and responsibilities in serving the community. It is a quickly evolving environment under ever-increasing requirements on physical reference frames that demand understanding, modeling, and prediction of the global geophysical fluids and their effects on the Earth's rotation, time-variable gravity, geocenter motion, and surface deformations. A two-day portion of the workshop plus an evening of business meeting are planned. After technical reports of review and plan from each of the eight Special Bureaus (Atmosphere, Oceans, Hydrology, Tides, Mantle, Core, Gravity/Geocenter, Loading) a technical forum from individuals including SB members/associates and anyone of the community will discuss scientific contributions, viewpoints, concerns and issues. For each of the major topics (sessions) a position paper will be written by the session conveners and made available before the workshop. It will contain the present status, the future requirements, and recommendations and schedules on how to realize the envisaged goals. A follow-up second announcement with a detailed program will be released in the second half of July 2002 to those who return, not later than July 12, 2002, the attached pre-registration form by mail, fax or e-mail to IERS Central Bureau Subject: Workshop November 11 - 14, 2002 Bundesamt fuer Kartographie und Geodaesie Richard Strauss Allee 11 D-60598 Frankfurt / Main Germany Fax: #49-69-6333-425 e-mail: central_bureau@iers.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IERS WORKSHOP on COMBINATION RESEARCH and GLOBAL GEOPHYSICAL FLUIDS Pre-registration form Name: Address: Phone: Fax: E-mail: [ ] I intend to participate in the workshop. [ ] I will not attend, but I am interested in the results of the workshop. *************************************************************************** IERS Messages are edited and distributed by the IERS Central Bureau. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please write to . Archives: http://www.iers.org/iers/publications/messages/ ***************************************************************************