Annex 11

  Reporter John Manning, Australia

1. Introduction

Following the restructure of the working groups by the Permanent Committee in Tehran, Working Group1- Regional Geodetic Network met in the morning of Tuesday 2^nd and the afternoon of 3^rd March. The president of the Permanent Committee nominated Dr J.Chen, China and Mr J. Manning , Australia to facilitate Working Group discussions and to report on findings to the final plenary session on 4 March.

2. Attendees

Dr J.Chen,China

Mr. E.Zhalkovskiy, Russia

Mr. A.Baranov, Russia

Mr. K.Nonomura, Japan

Prof. Dang Hung Vo, Vietnam

Farokh Tavakoli, Iran

Dato’ Majid Malaysia (part time)

Mr M. Naz Pakistan (part time)

John Manning, Australia

An additional six observers from Iran

3. Apologies

Mr R. Matindas, Indonesia

4. Agenda

1. Election of chairman for meeting
2. Election of reporter
3. Project Discussion
4. Development of workplans
5. Working group structure
6. Nomination of officers
7. Terms of Reference
8. Recommendations and Resolutions
9. Preparation of report to plenary

5. Administrative arrangements

Dr Chen was asked to chair this inaugural meeting of the new Regional Geodetic Network Working Group1. Mr. Manning was elected reporter for the meeting and to present the working group report to the plenary session of the Permanent Committee

Dr Chen explained the directions from the Executive Board, which requested Working Group 1 to give priority to two primary objectives :

• A precise Asia Pacific regional geodetic network
• A regional Geodetic datum

6. Working Group Discussion

The activities of the former Working Group 3 since 1996 were summarised in the report circulated for the Tehran meeting WG3 – Asia and the Pacific Regional Geodetic Networks. This body of work was acknowledged, and the results and expertise gained from these projects will be carried into the new work program.

The meeting discussed the overall Geodesy requirements for the region, to develop a geodetic framework for spatial data. The work of the previous Working Group and the concepts developed during discussions were used as input to the forward work program by :

• Identifying the scope of the projects
• Outlining principal components within the projects
• Listing immediate actions
• Identifying participating members project responsibilities
• Establishing target milestones in workplans.

It was decided to expand the proposed Regional Geodetic Datum objective into separate horizontal and vertical projects at this stage although it is considered that in the long term a full three dimensional approach to datums would be employed. Consequently three immediate projects were to be submitted to the Permanent Committee for endorsement. They are :

Project 1 Precise Regional Network

Project 2 Regional horizontal Datum

Project 3 Regional Vertical Datum

7. Forward Program

A workplan for each of the three projects was developed as Attachment 1.

8. Working Group Structure

The meeting discussed the structure of the working group and proposed that is should be headed by a Chairman and two Deputy (or vice) Chair persons.

9. Nomination of Officers

The appointment of a chairman for the new Geodesy group was discussed. A recommendation to the executive for Indonesia to continue as Chairman was proposed by Australia and seconded by Japan. Mr Manning and Dr Chen were nominated as deputy chairpersons.

It was resolved that project coordination responsibility within the working group for the identified projects at this meeting would be :

Project 1 Precise Regional Network : Australia

Project 2 Regional horizontal Datum: Australia

Project 3 Regional Vertical Datum : Japan

10. Other Business

10.1.Canberra meeting

The meeting proposed holding a Working Group workshop in Canberra Australia 2/3 July 1998 to :

• Present final reports on the APRGP97 project
• Review progress on a number of projects
• Endorse a plan for the October 1998 field observation campaign

The meeting resolved to seek endorsement from the Permanent Committee to hold this workshop and to encourage members to send their specialist geodesy persons to that event.

10.2.Participation in Geodesy Working Group

Mr Naz raised the lack of information about the activities of the working group being circulated to the appropriate recipients. It was resolved to attempt to identify the correct Geodesy contact in each national organisation.

The Geodesy Working group recommended that the PC Task Force explore funding possibilities to support travel for developing number of countries to attend future Geodesy meetings.

10.3 Resources for 1998 October regional datum campaign

The need for resources to support training and to enable visiting experts to assist in the campaign was discussed. The meeting recommends that the Task Force look at methods of providing funding in support of the regional Geodetic Linkages campaign.

Additionally the meeting identified the need for a sponsor to provide access to GPS receivers to facilitate participation in the Geodetic Linkages core campaign scheduled for October 1998 and for occupation of key geodetic sites at other times as part of that project.

11. Recommendations and Resolutions to the plenary session

The following recommendations are presented to the Tehran PCGIAP final plenary session.

1. The Geodesy Working group recommends that the Task Force look at approaches to support travel for a number of countries to attend future meetings
2. The Geodesy Working Group recommends that the Task Force looks at methods of providing funding in support of the regional Geodetic Linkages campaign

The following resolutions were identified to be presented to the Tehran PCGIAP final plenary session:

1. That the permanent committee endorses the Regional Geodetic campaign planned for October 1998 to facilitate the linkages of national geodetic datums to a regional geodetic datum

 

2. That the permanent committee endorses the Working Group workshop to be held in Canberra 2/3 July 1998 and encourages members to send their specialist staff to that event

12. Report to Permanent Committee

The preparation of the report was discussed, with Mr Manning to present the report to the plenary session.

13. Terms of reference

Suggested Terms of reference for the new working group 1 were discussed and accepted outside the formal Working Group meeting.

Draft Terms of Reference

Title: Working Group 1 - Regional Geodetic Network Working Group

1. Determine the optimum geodetic infrastructure necessary to support a regional GIS.
2. Research and document the general status of national geodetic networks within each member nation.
3. Determine and implement appropriate transformation strategies to integrate local datums into regional datums by developing transformation parameters for individual countries so that spatial data can be made available in a homogeneous regional data set.
4. Support activities leading to the development of a regional vertical datum.
5. Maintain a schedule outlining the individual activities, milestones, responsibilities, and completion dates associated with the above activities.
6. Each member makes available and also takes advantage, where appropriate, of opportunities for the exchange of personnel to contribute toward training and education and to improve regional cooperation in Geodesy.
7. That the Working Group through the Permanent Committee liaise with the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and other such bodies for the utilisation of advanced space technology (VLBI, SLR, etc) to facilitate the integration of the GPS networks within the region.

Scope

The current APRGP97 project will establish positional values, within a global reference frame, for a basic network of permanent geodetic stations across the Asia and the Pacific region. This project will establish the strength of the precise geodetic network and develop strategies for incorporating additional permanent stations. It will provide the basis for monitoring the positional movement of these geodetic stations on an ongoing basis use all geodetic techniques including VLBI and GLONASS. The processed solutions developed from the data will be delivered to IERS as a contribution to the global reference frame. These SINEX solutions will be submitted to IGS and ILRS, made available to member countries of the Permanent Committee and referenced on the PCGIAP Geodesy Networks Web page.

A metadata directory of permanent stations details, types, locations, organisations responsible for operation, and access to data will be published and maintained on the PCGIAP Geodesy Networks Web page.

Project Design

Regional Precise Geodetic Network - Coordinator Australia

Action	Responsibility	Target Date
1. Finalise APRGP97	Australia, other participating members	2/3 July 1998
2. Individual country publishes results produced. PCGIAP to publish composite result and place on web page	Participating members, and PC Executive	July1998
3. Arrange regular processing of regional GPS and SLR data from permanent sites to meet IGS, ILRS and IERS requirements	Australia	August 1998
4. Prepare strategies to maintain precise reference framework and further develop the regional network of permanent sites	Australia, Iran	2/3 July 1998
5.Publish directory of permanent network sites, and details of access to data, on WWW	Australia	2/3 July 1998
6. Monitor development of GLONASS and present strategy for using GLONASS global base station observations for Working Group consideration	Russia	Initially 2/3 July 1998. Full presentation to PC meeting Beijing, April 1999
7. Investigate regional capability for ongoing VLBI for WG1 discussion and submission to the Permanent Committee	Japan	2/3 July 1998

Project 2 – Linkages to Regional Horizontal Geodetic Datum

Scope

The APRGP97 project will provide the key reference geodetic network for the region.

Beyond this primary reference framework the objective of this new project is to link national Geodetic datums together, so that all spatial information from individual countries can be readily assembled into a unified regional spatial data infrastructure for GIS purposes.

The initial requirement arising from APRGP97 is to determine and publish a regional horizontal geodetic datum.

The next phase is to conduct a regional GPS epoch campaign to link national horizontal geodetic networks to the precise regional geodetic network. To design an appropriate campaign it is essential to firstly survey the needs of members. As a first step the Geodesy contacts in each national body need to be identified and correspondence developed with these key people. This is particularly the case with developing countries with variable quality geodetic networks but with limited resources.

A field GPS campaign is planned for October 1998 to assist linking individual networks to the regional datum. The number of sites to be occupied will vary from country to country but in general terms may be described as five points for five days for each separate geodetic network. Where local datums have been already adjusted onto ITRF, re-observations on other geodetic points in networks can be used to verify or improve transformation parameters.

The field observations from both permanent base stations, and epoch sites on local geodetic points, will be processed in terms of the regional datum and the results compared to the values from local geodetic networks. Initially, indicative block shifts for each country will be compiled.

Where appropriate, the precise regional points established in the core campaign can subsequently be used to constrain a geodetic readjustment of the local terrestrial network. This will allow the development of appropriate transformation parameters to be determined for the conversion of spatial data from individual country databases to a regional spatial data infrastructure. Permanent Committee Member countries are encouraged to publish transformation values and to post computational parameters to the PCIAP Geodetic Networks home page.

In parallel with the horizontal linkage of local geodetic values to the regional datum, a strategy for the determination of an appropriate regional vertical datum and improved regional geoid will be separately addressed.

Project design

Horizontal datum - Co-ordinator Australia

Action	Responsibility	Target
1.Determine Regional horizontal datum for PC endorsement	China, close cooperation Japan and Australia	2/3 July 1998
2. Undertake Geodesy needs survey	Indonesia, Malaysia	2/3 July 1998
3. Develop Observation campaign field observation strategy and workplan	Australia	2/3 July 1998
4. Arrange epoch campaign – October 1998 or to link with international projects in the region	Australia, Vietnam,Iran,Japan, China, All participating member countries	October 1998 and subsequent opportunities for observations
5. Undertake processing of observation campaign	Australia, with other countries willing to participate in processing data	Sequentially from February 1999. Present initial results April 1999
6. Prepare strategy for computation of transformation parameters	Iran	2/3 July 1998
7. Individual countries readjust geodetic network to regional points	Individual countries	UNRCCAP 2000
8. Individual countries publish results, post to WWW	Individual countries	UNRCCAP2000

Project 3 Regional Vertical Datum

The Asia and the Pacific region has a wide variety of landforms, isolated islands, and water bodies. Digital spatial data includes various digital terrain models, local sea level land datums, and unique hydrographic chart datums. To establish a regional spatial data infrastructure across the region there is a need to be able to combine the various individual height datums.

The objective of this project to examine methodologies to link the various height datum components together in a regional setting. The project is necessary in order to:

• standardise the individual vertical geodetic coordinate systems

• be able to monitor the vertical crustal movement of individual landmasses. and
• determine absolute sea level change in the region.

The aim of the project is to develop a strategy, for the most appropriate regional vertical datum, to be applied to the Asia and the Pacific region. This will involve investigating the most appropriate approach to an optimal seamless geoid and the concept of adopting a reference ellipsoid to link individual datums to a regional datum. Consideration of the relationship between a regional geoid and the national/local vertical datums in use in the region is an important element in this project.

Project Design

Vertical Datum - Coordinator Japan

Action	Responsibility	Target
Prepare discussion paper on aspects of vertical datum for consideration as possible approaches for establishing a regional vertical datum	Japan, with close cooperation from Iran, Vietnam and Australia	2/3 July 1998
Develop proposal for regional vertical datum for discussion and submission to the Permanent Committee	Australia, Japan	Discussion paper 2/3 July. Submission,Beijing PC meeting April 1999
Represent the WG on IAG Special Study Groups on sea level. Prepare progress reports to WG	Vietnam	2/3 July 1998 and April meeting in Beijing

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