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<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Dear Colleagues,<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">More than one month after
the 39th IGS Governing Board Meeting in San Francisco it is
really high time to inform you about the
important topics and discussions covered at our 7 hours meeting.
The meeting
took place on Dec 4, 2011, with 19 GB Members and 11 Invitees
attending. With
the presence of 12 voting members a quorum was reached.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Elections<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">One of the important tasks
was the approval of the outcome of the elections. Five highly
qualified
candidates were standing for the two open assignments as
Analysis Center Representatives
as the terms of Bob King and Tim Springer terminate by end of
last year. 63%
out of 183 IGS Associate members participated in the vote and
elected Shailen
Desai from Jet Propulsion Laboratory and reelected Tim Springer
from European Space Operations Center for the term
2012-2015 as voting members of our Governing Board. <br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">The Board unanimously
approved the result of the elections. I congratulate Shailen and
Tim and
welcome Shailen in our Board and am glad that Tim continues his
involvement. I
also want to thank the three not elected candidates for their
willingness to
stand for elections and allowed for a (difficult) selection from
five highly
qualified and very appropriate candidates. The IGS is fortunate
to have highly
qualified and engaged individuals who contribute to our Service
and are ready
to serve in the Governing Board. Only such engagement allows the
IGS to keep
its leading role in the evolving GNSS landscape.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">I also want to thank the
Election Committee, composed of Carine Bruyninx, Carey Noll and
chaired by
Richard Wonnacott for their very careful and efficient
conduction of the
elections.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Changes in the Governing
Board<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Apart from Shailen joining
the Governing Board there were more changes in the Board
membership. Yamin Dang
joined the Board in the course of last year as appointed member,
Zuheir
Altamimi joined as IAG representative and Christine Hackman
joined as new chair
of the Troposphere Working Group. Jake Griffith joined the Board
beginning of
this year as new Analysis Center Coordinator, see separate IGS
Mail 6513. Chris
Rizos was an appointed member, he is now member of the GB in his
function as
IAG President.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">As a matter of fact several
members left the Governing Board, namely Bob King, Geoff
Blewitt, Yoaz-Bar
Sever, Jim Ray, John Dow, and Gerhard Beutler. The work, efforts
and expertise
they contributed to the IGS in their different functions and as
members of the
Board over many years was honored at the GGOS reception after
the GB meeting.
See also dedicated separate IGS Mail.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">The Associates Members
Committee will continue its work with a new composition: The
members of the new
Committee are Tim Springer (chair), Christine Hackman, and James
Park. IGS
representatives to IERS are Tim Springer (analysis) and Steve
Fisher (network).
With Bruno Garayt and Paul Rebischung the IGS is well
represented in the IAG
Sub-Commission 1-2 on reference frames. Ruth Neilan and I
represent the IGS in
the GGOS Consortium.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Strategic Plan<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">In the course of this year
the Strategic Plan 2013-2017 has to be developed. As the current
Strategic Plan
is not outdated in most of its content, an update is envisaged.
The new plan
will have to properly address the IGS leadership in the changing
GNSS
landscape. Key issue is the IGS' path from GPS to GNSS involving
all components
from acquisition to analysis. The details of the update process
will be defined
in the first months of this year. A web questionnaire is being
prepared in
order to collect the IGS community's perspective of the three
main goals the
IGS shall achieve and three main challenges the IGS is facing.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">The Strategic Implementation
Plan was updated for 2012 before the meeting and discussed
during the meeting. The
Plan in fact contains actions at different level of abstraction.
Some actions
can (and should) be associated with target dates for which a
successful
completion is planned while other actions may rather be
considered as
continuous activity. The next Implementation Plan shall be
restructured in
order to accommodate timelines. Also the feedback and monitoring
process has
room for improvements. As an example the recommendations of the
upcoming
workshop should be directly reflected in the Strategic
Implementation Plan
2013. Since the GB meeting I received feedback from the working
groups on actions
related to their focus areas and an updated version of the
Strategic
Implementation Plan 2012 will be circulated in the GB for
approval.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Multi-GNSS</span><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; background: none
repeat scroll 0% 0% aqua;" lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% aqua;"
lang="EN-US"></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial;" lang="EN-US">The GNSS landscape is
changing rapidly. New frequencies and modernized signals are
already in space
and more are coming soon. Equipment tracking the new frequencies
and signals is
getting commercially available. The transition to a truly
Multi-GNSS Service is
the biggest challenge the IGS is facing. The transition of the
current GPS and
GPS/GLONASS tracking network to a Multi-GNSS network has to be
planned
carefully in order not to disrupt the long time series required
for realizing
the reference frame. New signals need characterization for
global applications,
biases need calibration, conventions concerning new signals need
to be
established, new formats are required, new equipment needs
calibration,
analysis software needs upgrade. New IGS products will
eventually be defined.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">To facilitate the process
the IGS M-GEX Call for Proposal was issued with the goal to make
tracking data
from the new systems available for engineering analysis of the
signals,
characterization of the equipment, adaptation of software
packages, and
eventually to generate experimental products. About two dozen
proposals from
interested institutions were received the IGS and are currently
under
evaluation and I thank all who sent a proposal. Interfacing with
the JAXA MGM Network
was discussed offline with Satoshi Kogure after the meeting.
Paul Rebischung
presented the global REGINA GNSS tracking network planned by
Centre National d'Etudes
Spatiales (CNES) whose data will be available for the IGS. I
look forward for a
successful tracking campaign and for the first results that will
be presented
at the IGS Workshop.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% aqua;"
lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% aqua;"
lang="EN-US"></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Arial;" lang="EN-US">In the course of the GB
meeting the revised charter of the GNSS Working Group was
approved by the
voting members. The most important task of the WG is the
conduction and
monitoring of the M-GEX Campaing.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* IGS Workshop 2012</span><b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"></span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Shailen
Desai, the Chair of
the Scientific Organizing Committee presented the already well
developed draft
program of the workshop that will take place on July 23-27 in
Olsztyn, Poland.
The program committee strives to balance programmatic overview
presentations
and technical presentations. Enough room will be allocated to
poster sessions that
will be dedicated to IGS focus areas, as well as for splinter
meetings of the
Working Groups.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Andrzej Krankowski presented
the very nice facilities that will be available at his
university for our
workshop. The workshop will be an ideal opportunity for exchange
and discussion
between the IGS components as well as the users of IGS products.
I look forward
to this opportunity.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;"></span><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"></span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* IGS
Analysis and Products<br>
</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Most important information is
the transition of the ACC function from Jim Ray to Jake
Griffiths beginning of
this year, see IGS Mail 6513. NGS committed to continue its
involvement for
another term of four years, allocating significant resources to
the ACC function.
In order to express the IGS' deep gratitude, Ruth Neilan,
Gerhard Beutler and I
visited NGS on November 8.<br>
</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Separated from the ACC
function is the development of a new and multi-GNSS-capable
orbit combination
software. Rolf Dach reported on the status and plans of the
developments
jointly performed by CODE, ESOC, and TU Vienna. Funding is
essentially
confirmed and first manpower is allocated. Details on
architecture shall be
presented at the IGS Workshop.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Real-Time, RINEX and RTCM<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">At the meeting in December
2010 the IGS GB decided the transition of the Real-Time Pilot
Project into a
Working Group within two years. The GB considers global
real-time GNSS
satellite clocks and orbits as future IGS core products. This is
noted as an
integral part of the IGS Strategic Plan 2008-2012. The current
status of the
project shows a stable generation of combined GNSS satellite
clocks. Real-time
IGS products may thus be expected as early as this summer. Work
has still to be
done to define the products, procedures and access points in
detail and to
perform final product reliability tests.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Concerning the maintenance
of RINEX into the multi-GNSS future the IGS underlines its claim
for the
leading role. RINEX is of pivotal importance for the IGS and for
post
processing applications. An invitation by RTCM Special Committee
104 to form a
joint IGS/RTCM working group, chaired by IGS, was accepted at
the April GB
meeting. A joint activity with RTCM enhances the capabilities
for promoting the
format. The charter is under development. A RINEX 3 adoption
plan was presented
at the GB meeting by the working group and discussed. Additional
discussion is
needed to finalize the plans. Target date is the IGS Workshop.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">* Tropopshere WG</span><b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"></span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Christine
Hackman, the new
Chair of the Troposphere WG gave a short update of the WG
status. The
transition of product transition from JPL to USNO took place in
summer and
after detailed tests of the quality of the results the
production of the IGS
troposphere products switched to USNO beginning of July 2011.
The restructuring
of the WG is well under way, engaging also the users of the
products. The GB
voted positively on the draft charter and membership list.</span><b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"></span></b><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">*
Infrastructure<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">Significant work was
invested by the IGS Infrastructure Committee and CB into the
revision of the
IGS Site Guidelines that will soon be available on the IGS web
site. The new
Site Guidelines implicitly allow application networks. The
mechanism for
simplifying the inclusion of networks from GNSS operators into
the IGS analysis
for reference frame alignment according to an ICG WG-D
recommendation was
discussed during and after the GB meeting with Barbara Wiley
from NGA.<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US"><br>
After this short, incomplete
and late report I finally like to sincerely thank all
participants and
supporters of the IGS for their efforts and for all that was
achieved in the
past year. I wish you - and the IGS - all the best and a
successful and
prosperous 2012!<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;
font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-US">With best regards<br>
Urs Hugentobler<br>
Chair, IGS Governing Board</span></p>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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