Work to bring together all organisations involved in defining or
using reference frames to develop common approaches and avoid
duplication. Such organisations include FIG, the International
Association of Geodesy (IAG), UN-GGIM, ISO, groups of national
mapping agencies, and other influential national agencies.
Continue the existing co-operation with IAG on the Regional
Reference Frame Projects such as AFREF, APREF, EUREF, NAREF, and
SIRGAS.
Develop and expand upon the relationships with UN-GGIM’s
Sub-Committee on Geodesy (UN-SCOG), the UN SCOG WG’s, and the
various UN-GGIM regional bodies.
Consider options for the development and implementation of 4
dimensional datums that incorporate the effects of plate tectonic
and regional effects such as those due to earthquakes or local
effects such as landslides.
Provide background technical information on relevant issues
written in a way that is accessible to surveying practitioners.
Examine how surveying practitioners can access the reference
frame, through less emphasis on networks of ground monuments and
more emphasis on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) base
stations.
Provide information on the maintenance of CORS networks to
ensure long-term stability
Chair
Nic Donnelly, New Zealand
ndonnelly[at]linz.govt.nz
What we are working on -
Review of Reference Frames in Practise Manual
Connection to ISO-TC211: Geodetic Registry Network.
FIG Publication on ITRF
Publication regarding national datums (different types)
What's New
The working group has continued its strong focus on accounting for
geodynamics within 3D reference frames. This has involved close
collaboration with our counterparts in the International Association of
Geodesy 's deformation modelling working group led by Richard Stanaway. Of
particular note is work undertaken on two potential formats for
deformation models in which working group members have been involved. One
is based on GeoTIFF and the other is based on the HDF5 format. Work is now
underway to implement the GeoTIFF format into the PROJ open-source
software stack. This will provide an implementation that other software
vendors may also be able to leverage. Having an internationally agreed
format for deformation models is becoming more urgent as many nations
actively pursue datum modernisation programmes.
In terms of outreach, the main focus was the Reference Frames in
Practice workshop held in conjunction with the 2019 Working Week in Hanoi.
This featured two days of presentations and seminars and included good
engagement from the local Vietnamese geodetic community. Further workshops
are planned for later in 2020 (in conjunction with the SIRGAS meeting) and
for the 2021 Working Week.
Work has commenced on a revised edition of FIG publication No. 64,
Reference Frames in Practice Manual. The aim is to have this complete
towards the end of 2020. Amongst other things, the manual will be updated
to include information about the latest global reference frames, the
UN-GGIM Global Geodetic Reference Frame and additional national case
studies.
