From: B. Ambrosius Subject: [IGSMAIL-1085] New station in Irkutsk, Siberia (IRKT) Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 7:14:02 PDT ****************************************************************************** IGS Electronic Mail Tue Oct 10 7:14:02 PDT 1995 Message Number 1085 ****************************************************************************** Author: B. Ambrosius Subject: New station in Irkutsk, Siberia (IRKT) Subject: New station in Irkutsk, Siberia (IRKT) On September 21, 1995, a new station has become operational in Irkutsk, a major Russian city in East Siberia, near lake Baikal. It is situated on a hill southwest of the city at the premises of the East Siberian branch of the Russian Time and Frequency State Service (ES NIIFTRI). Due to its geographical location deep in Central Asia, where the density of IGS stations is still rather low, this site represents a significant extension of the global IGS network. The project is a joint effort of the Institute for Metrology of Time and Space (IMVP, GP VNIIFTRI) in Mendeleevo near Moscow, Delft University of Technology (DUT) in the Netherlands and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). DUT has provided the TurboRogue SNR-8000 receiver for the Irkutsk station on a loan basis. Also, DUT will act as the Operational Center for this new station. It represents the second step in the ongoing cooperation between IMVP and DUT which resulted in the establishment of the station in Mendeleevo, earlier this year. The Irkutsk receiver will be replaced by a NASA/JPL supplied unit, as soon as it becomes available. An important detail is that the receiver is connected to a hydrogen maser. As part of the Russian Time and Frequency State Service, ES NIIFTRY has great experience in H-maser technology. It runs a large bank of H-masers and other frequency standards. The Dorne Margolin T antenna is mounted on a 2 - 3 m high concrete pillar which was especially constructed for this purpose. Nearby an identical pillar was constructed which will carry the antenna of a future permanent GLONASS receiver. The TurboRogue receiver itself is housed in a special room of the main office building at the hill, less than 30 m away. For the time being, the daily data files are handcarried to the Institute of the Earth Crust in Irkutsk where the nearest Internet connection is located. From there they are transferred to Mendeleevo and to Delft. After checking and Rinexing DUT submits the files to the Data Center at IfAG. This project has been realized thanks to the efforts of many individuals at the various institues involved. However, there was also outside help from dr. Eric Calais from Scripps Institute for Oceanography (SIO), who happened to be in Irkutsk when the receiver arrived in late August. We gratefully acknowledge his kind help in instructing the people in Irkutsk about the operations of the receiver. Data are available since day 264. The files will be transferred to IfAG shortly. Routine submissions will start immediatly. The site information from will be submitted to the IGS Central Bureau as soon as all the information is available. For the time being, here is some preliminary information. Approximate coordinates: X -968332.93 Y 3794424.12 Z 5018164.81 Antenna height (marker to bottom of chokering): 128 mm Boudewijn Ambrosius (DUT) [Mailed From: Boudewijn Ambrosius ]