Thursday, July 23, 2015

Hawai'i Site Survey Contributes to International Terrestrial Reference Frame

The week of July 13, NGS completed a site survey at the Very Long Baseline Array Observatory, located below the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. Two space geodesy instruments co-located at the site, combined with the observatory's remote location in the Pacific Ocean, make the site an important component of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) tracking network. IERS site surveys and space geodesy techniques are used to determine the International Terrestrial Reference Frame - the global coordinate system. The latest technology was employed to acheive a high level of survey accuracy.

For more information, contact: Kendall.Fancher@noaa.gov