<div dir="ltr"><div style><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">All, Please see the invitation below for participants. We look forward to your responses!</span></b></div>

<div style><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br>

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</span></b></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.31654982711188495" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div>

<b id="internal-source-marker_0.31654982711188495" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;white-space:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>> Call for Participation - Round 2 of NGS Kinematic GPS Processing Challenge <<</span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is conducting a 12-year project, called Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D), to re-define the vertical datum of the United States by flying airborne gravity missions.  The accuracy of the resulting vertical datum depends directly on the quality of the aircraft’s GNSS position solutions. </span></b><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br>

</span></b></div><div><b style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;white-space:normal;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br>

</span></b></div>In August 2010, NGS issued a "Kinematic GPS Challenge" to seek community input on the best practices for processing this large positioning data volume. Ten international groups answered the call, submitting sixteen different position solutions calculated with a variety of software and techniques.  However, the majority of solutions were corrupted by a characteristic “sawtooth” pattern which was tracked back to the aircraft receiver used in the initial Challenge; instead, a second onboard GNSS receiver is used for this Challenge reissue.  Also in this new call for participation, inertial measurement unit (IMU) data are made available for joint GPS+IMU processing.</span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">To further facilitate our software and method development, we invite interested researchers and practitioners to compute and submit solutions from samples of actual GRAV-D data. In this new call, NGS requests that all participants submit a GPS-only solution utilizing the new aircraft GPS data.  For those able to process with IMU data, we request additional submission of a second IMU+GPS solution.  NGS would like to receive all solutions by April 1, 2013.</span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is a strictly voluntary exercise for those interested in such a comparison and we will share our results with the participants. We are also interested in possibly co-authoring a publication with the participants on the topic if results are significant.</span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Detailed information on the Challenge is available here:</span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">* All Files for the Second Call: <a href="ftp://ftp.ngs.noaa.gov/dist/tdiehl/Kinematic_GPS_Processing_Challenge/Call2_Jan2013/">ftp://ftp.ngs.noaa.gov/dist/tdiehl/Kinematic_GPS_Processing_Challenge/Call2_Jan2013/</a> </span></b><div>

<b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:15.454545021057129px;white-space:pre-wrap">* Descriptions of Challenge and Data are in the ftp documents: </span></font></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.31654982711188495" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">GRAVD_KinematicGPS_Call2.pdf, </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.31654982711188495" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">GRAVD_KinematicGPS_Call2_Supplement1.pdf</span></b></div>

<div><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:15.454545021057129px;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></font><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">* Challenge website </span><a href="http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GRAV-D/gpschallenge.shtml" style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/GRAV-D/gpschallenge.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><br>

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please read through the test description (PDF link given above) and email </span></b><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Theresa Damiani (theresa.damiani at <a href="http://noaa.gov">noaa.gov</a>) and</span></b><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Gerry Mader (gerald.l.mader at <a href="http://noaa.gov">noaa.gov</a>) if you plan to participate or if you have any questions. Also, please feel free to forward this announcement to any person or group who you think might be interested but might not be on this mailing list. We look forward to your participation!</span></b></div>

<div><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br class=""></span><br><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Theresa Damiani<br class="">

</span></b><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gerry Mader<br class=""></span></b><b style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">National Geodetic Survey</span></b><br>

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