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[IGS-RTWG-13] Update and Upcoming Pilot Project



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IGS-RTWG Mail      30 Jan 07:59:21 PST 2006      Message Number 13
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Author: Mark Caissy

Dear RTWG Members, 

I am writing to update you on the progress of the working group since the
Focus Review Session held last spring in Vienna and to also provide you with
information pertaining to an upcoming IGS Real-time Pilot Project.

PROGRESS SINCE 2005 FOCUS REVIEW SESSION  (compiled in early December)

The emphasis has been in the following areas. 

1)	Expansion of the RT-network

There are 46 active stations although global distribution remains an issue.
Geoscience Australia made very significant progress in 2005.  They are now
contributing 16 stations from their extensive network on two continents.
NRCan continues to deliver a number of stations from it's national network
and JPL has most recently added Kokee Park (Hawaii) to the list of stations
they are contributing   ESA continues to deliver data reliably from several
sites and they are planning to add to this list.  GFZ's contributions were
down during 2005 but they are fully committed to the initiative and intend
to have a number of stations back online soon.   The Royal Observatory of
Belgium is now operating station BRUS using the RTIGS toolset and a number
of stations from the BKG network that operate Javad receivers will soon be
integrated.  The same applies to the Swedish network.

The following stations are currently available: (December 2005) 

Count   IGS     Status  Agency      RTIGS # 
1       LPGS    Active  GFZ             403 
2       MADR    Active  JPL             33 
3       GOLD    Active  JPL             32 
4       TIDB    Active  JPL             34 
5       KOKB    Active  JPL             44 
6       AMC2    Active  USNO/JPL        67 
7       DLFT    Active  TUD/JPL         71 
8       KIRU    Active  ESOC            300 
9       MAS1    Active  ESOC            301 
10      STJO    Active  NRCan           102 
11      HLFX    Active  NRCan/GFZ       115 
12      NRC3    Active  NRCan           110 
13      ALGO    Active  NRCan           107 
14      CHUR    Active  NRCan           105 
15      YELL    Active  NRCan           104 
16      DRA2    Active  NRCan           108 
17      ALBH    Active  NRCan           103 
18      WINN    Active  NRCan           106 
19      EUR1    Active  NRCan           123 
20      FLIU    Active  NGS             200 
21      MSSC    Active  NGS/USM         201 
22      USNO    Active  USNO            700 
23      RIO1    Active  IBGE            702 
24      IENG    Active  IEN             704 
25      NRL1    Active  NRL             705 
26      BRUS    Active  ROB/NRCan       707 
27      DHLG    Active  SOPAC/NRCan     708 
28      WIDC    Active  SOPAC/NRCan     709 
29      DWHZ    Active  Doug Hogarth    710 
30      DARW    Active  GSAUS           600 
31      TOW2    Active  GSAUS           601 
32      CEDU    Active  GSAus           602 
33      YAR2    Active  GSAUS           603 
34      ALIC    Active  GSAUS           604 
35      MAW1    Active  GSAUS           605 
36      DAV1    Active  GSAUS           606 
37      CAS1    Active  GSAUS           607 
38      COCO    Active  GSAUS           608 
39      KARR    Active  GSAUS           609 
40      MOBS    Active  GSAUS           610 
41      STR1    Active  GSAUS           612 
42      XMAS    Active  GSAUS           613 
43      TID1    Active  GSAUS           614 
44      BUR1    Active  GSAUS           615 
45      HOB2    Active  GSAUS           616 
46      STR2    Active  GSAUS           619 

 
2)	Increased involvement within the IGS and the user communities. 

RTIGS data is being shared with 6 real-time centres including NRCan, JPL,
COSMIC, TUV, UCAT and NOAA.  Additionally, RTIGS data is being sent in
real-time to 3 data centers (global/regional) (CDDIS, BKG and GA).  The new
Korean data center (KASI) has received and will soon be installing the
archiving software (RTIGSA).  RTIGS contributors are developing real-time
applications that range from atmospheric modeling (NOAA, COSMIC, UCAT), rt
clock estimation (NRCan, JPL), to assessing time and frequency transfer (IEN
who recently presented a poster at PTTI).  Integrity monitoring of the IGU
product, a recommendation at the Berne meeting, is under development at TUV
and they recently presented a poster on this topic at the December AGU
conference.

3)	Outreach

Both the IEN and TUV posters are demonstrating to the broader community that
the RTIGS prototype network is in place and is providing the opportunity to
develop real-time applications based on this new infrastructure.  I had the
opportunity to participate in a panel session at the CGSIC meetings held
prior to ION and I also made a presentation on the work of the RTWG during
the CORS User Forum, also at the CGSIC meetings.  The session had the theme
"Towards Real-time".

THE UPCOMING IGS REAL-TIME PILOT PROJECT

The Real-time IGS has matured to a point where it is now time to move from
the current prototype phase into a pilot project phase. The IGS Governing
Board has given approval that a Real-time Pilot Project be initiated.  

IGS members from around the world are contributing real-time GPS data to the
Real-Time IGS (RTIGS). Other IGS partners are receiving the RTIGS data
stream and are developing real-time applications.  At this time there are
more than 45 active stations and RTIGS data is being shared with a number of
real-time centers. Real-time centers are developing real-time applications
that range from ionospheric and tropospheric modeling, to assessing station
clocks and estimating GPS satellite clocks.

The following agencies are receiving RTIGS data: 

1)	Technical University of Vienna  
2)	Technical University of Catalonia 
3)	University Corporation for Atmospheric Research 
4)	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
5)	Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
6)	Natural Resources Canada
7)	ESA 
8)	CDDIS 
9)	Geoscience's Australia
10)	BKG 
11)	KASI (installing archiving software)

The following list of software is available to RTIGS users/contributors: 

1)	Real Time GPS Reader for AOA /Ashtech / (Javad soon to be released).
This software streams real-time data to an UDPRelay.
2)	UDPRelay - distributes data in real time (data can be encrypted if
required)
3)	RTIGS Archiver   (RTIGSA) - archives the RTIGS data stream by
creating flat files  
4)	TEQC translates RTIGS data into RINEX format - works with files from
RTIGSA.
5)	RTIGS Multicast Receive (RTIGSMR) - Provides a Real-time Application
Frame Work (provides application developers with a framework within which to
embed their code)   

The protocols and tools required to share real-time GPS data have been
developed over that last few years. IGS members have shown significant
support for the RTIGS prototype by contributing data from over 45 stations.
Many IGS agencies have developed prototype applications that use the RTIGS
data streams.  Moving to a Real-time Pilot Project is a logical next step.

It is foreseen that the Pilot Project will include:

1)	A broad based call for participation
2)	A level of commitment from participants

The Pilot Project will target a number of key areas and is expected to:

1)	Result in an improved network of global stations. Reference frame
stations will be targeted.
2)	Increase the reliability of the real-time data streams.
3)	Involve global data centers and analysis centers in real-time
activities.
4)	Result in the development of real-time IGS products including
real-time satellite clocks 

I would very much like to hear your comments on this and other real-time
initiatives.

Regards

Mark Caissy
Chair IGS Real-time Working Group

-- a special thanks to Ken Macleod for assisting in the preparation of this
email