Subject: [IGSMAIL-0648] 2nd IGS Anniversary
From: Gerhard Beutler
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 11:45:26 PDT

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IGS Electronic Mail      Wed Jun 22 11:45:26 PDT 1994      Message Number 0648
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Author: Gerhard Beutler
Subject: 2nd IGS Anniversary

                                                 Bern, 22 June 1994

Dear colleagues,

I hope it did not escape your attention that we had our second anniversary
of IGS operations yesterday !

We are looking back to the 1992 IGS Test Campaign (21 June - 23 September,
1992), to the IGS Pilot Service (1 November 1992 - 31 December 1993), and
we are now in our 6th month of the officially established IAG service.

The development during the last two years was remarkable:  The number of
stations in the network was steadily growing (today we have about fifty
high quality receivers in the network); the coverage of the globe is
getting better; the capability of receivers to cope with difficult tracking
modes (AS) has been improved considerably; the data transmission and archiving
is very reliable today; the seven analysis centers are approaching the
consistency level of 10 cm per satellite coordinate, which allows the
analysis center coordinator to turn out for each day a combined,
highly accurate, AND very reliable GPS orbit set, the so-called official 
IGS orbit.

It is my impression that the public awareness for our service is rapidly
growing.  This is an important aspect, because the only justification for a
service is the acceptance by its "customers". It is important to remind
ourselves that the scientific geodynamics community and the national geodetic
survey organizations are our primary users.

If all the participants of the IGS continue to work with the same
dedication to our service we will see our products to become the basis
for all global and regional geodynamics projects using the GPS and
of course for all (inter)national high order GPS networks.

In the name of the Governing Board of the IGS I would like to thank all
participants for their work and to express the hope that we will be
able to count on these voluntary contributions in future, too.

                                                   Yours sincerely

                                                   Gerhard Beutler

[Mailed From: Gerhard Beutler <[email-masked]>]