[IGSMAIL-8521] Re: Transition to ISO-3166 Alpha-3 codes in the IGS metadata

Tue Nov 5 20:34:31 UTC 2024

Dear IGS Community Members,

*The IGS Central Bureau kindly reminds you that that the planned
implementation of IGS updates to Alpha-3 Country/Region codes, 9-Character
station identifiers, and other **changes as announced by the IGS
Infrastructure Committee in [IGS-8458
<https://lists.igs.org/pipermail/igsmail/2024/008454.html?_gl=1*1up9h71*_ga*MTg0OTMwNDUxNy4xNzIzNjYwNjgz*_ga_Z5RH7R682C*MTczMDgzODMwMC4zNC4wLjE3MzA4MzgzMDAuNjAuMC4w&_ga=2.140937275.882449497.1730830657-1849304517.1723660683>]
are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.*

Any questions regarding this transition can be directed to:

Markus Bradke, IGS Infrastructure Committee Coordinator:
markus.bradke at gfz-potsdam.de

Ryan Ruddick, IGS Infrastructure Committee Vice Coordinator:
ryan.ruddick at ga.gov.au

Best regards,
Allison, on behalf of the IGS Central Bureau

On Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 2:46 AM Markus Bradke <bradke at gfz-potsdam.de> wrote:

> Dear IGS/GNSS community,
>
> We are going to be making some changes to the way we describe geographic
> locations in our site logs and related metadata records.
> These changes will better align our metadata with international geographic
> standards, such as ISO-3166, ensuring maximum shareability and
> interoperability, especially in the realm of machine-to-machine
> communications and machine learning applications, where there is a need to
> increase the machine readability of IGS metadata as it describes countries,
> areas, and geographical regions. The change also ensures that our site logs
> align with other IGS standards such as RINEX and GeodesyML.
>
> Governing Board Decision
>
> After careful consideration, the IGS Governing Board decided (in December
> 2021) to modify the term “Country” to “Country or Region” (also written
> “Country/Region”) when talking about place names in the IGS network and
> community. This modification will be implemented in order to use vocabulary
> that is more inclusive to stations in international territories and
> regions, such as the Antarctic and Arctic. This also seeks to preserve and
> protect the IGS status as a politically neutral scientific organisation.
>
> As such, IGS Governing Board has sanctioned the utilisation of
> alphabetical three-character (Alpha-3) ISO-3166 country/region codes. An
> implementation plan has been devised and accepted. Furthermore, the plan
> has received approval from other international networks, such as APREF and
> EPN.
>
> The assignment of countries, regions, or areas to specific groupings is
> for technical interoperability and statistical convenience and does not
> imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries
> or territories by the International GNSS Service (IGS). The designations
> employed and the presentation of material on the IGS site do not imply the
> expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IGS concerning the
> legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its
> authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
>
> What will change
>
> Over the coming months the IGS Infrastructure Committee will implement the
> decisions made by the Governing Board through changes to the IGS site logs.
>
> The blank.log <https://files.igs.org/pub/station/general/blank.log> will
> be replaced with blank_v2.0.log and the instructions provided in
> sitelog_instr.txt
> <https://files.igs.org/pub/station/general/sitelog_instr.txt> will be
> modified and saved as sitelog_instr_v2.0.log.
>
> Furthermore, we will take this opportunity to fully adopt the 9-character
> station identifiers in both the filename and the metadata files themselves.
> For example, the filename pots_20240101.log will be changed to
> pots00deu_20240101.log.
>
> Changes to the blank.log
>
> The changes to the blank.log are highlighted in blue.
>
> XXXX Site Information Form (site log)
> XXXXMRCCC Site Information Form (site log v2.0)
>
> If Update:
>  Previous Site Log       : (ssss_ccyymmdd.log)
>  Previous Site Log       : (ssssmrccc_ccyymmdd.log)
>
> Four Character ID        : (A4)
> Nine Character ID        : (A9)
>
> Country                  :
> Country or Region        : (A3)
>
> For the station POTS00DEU, the changes will look like this:
>
> POTS Site Information Form (site log)
> POTS00DEU Site Information Form (site log v2.0)
>
> If Update:
>  Previous Site Log       : pots_20230101.log
>  Previous Site Log       : pots00deu_20230101.log
>
> Four Character ID        : POTS
> Nine Character ID        : POTS00DEU
>
> Country                  : Germany
> Country or Region        : DEU
>
> Timeline for changes
>
> The implementation of the updates will commence on June 5, 2024, utilising
> the updated site logs appearing in the existing /log_9char
> <https://files.igs.org/pub/station/log_9char/> directory.
> Initially, only the active site logs will be modified, while the archived
> site logs will remain untouched.
>
> The changes are planned to be completed by the end of 2024.
> Following this, at a date still to be determined, we will remove the
> current /log folder, which contains the "old" version logs, and relocate
> the test directory from /log_9char to /log.
>
> It's important to note that the implementation timeline pertains
> specifically to metadata on the IGS servers.
> The actual implementation, such as folder structure, for other services
> like APREF and EPN, may differ. Please refer to their respective email
> correspondences for more details.
>
> If you have any questions or requests, do not hesitate to contact us under
> sitelog-transition at igs.org.
>
> Best regards,
> Markus Bradke
> (on behalf of the IGS Infrastructure Committee)
>
> M.Eng. Markus Bradke
>
> IGS Infrastructure Committee Coordinator
>
> Section 1.1 Space Geodetic Techniques
> Phone: +49 (0)331/6264-1182
> Email: markus.bradke at gfz-potsdam.de
>
> Helmholtz Centre Potsdam
> GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
> Foundation under public law of the federal state of Brandenburg
> Telegrafenberg, D-14473 Potsdam
>
> _______________________________________________
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> IGSMail at lists.igs.org
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>
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