COSPAR to host satellite panel on GNSS

The next meeting of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is expected to attract about 2,500 scientists and engineers from around the world. COSPAR Istanbul 2016: 41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly will be held July 30-Aug. 7 in Istanbul, Turkey. Deadline for early registration is May 31.

More than 100 symposia will cover all areas of space science:

• space studies of the Earth’s surface,
• meteorology and climate,
• space studies of the Earth-Moon,
• planets and small bodies of the solar system,
• space studies of the upper atmospheres of the Earth and planets including reference atmosphere,
• space plasmas in the Solar system, including planetary magnetospheres,
• research in astrophysics from space,
• life sciences as related to space,
• material sciences in space,
• fundamental physics in space, and
• several panel meetings.

Interdisciplinary lectures will also be given by key scientists and several associated events, such as a meeting organized by Elsevier for young scientists to help them publish or review scientific articles.

Panel on Satellite Dynamics

A meeting for geodesists, organized by the COSPAR Panel on Satellite Dynamics, will be held in conjunction with IAG Commission 1.

The aim of the panel is to support activities related to the detailed description of the motion of artificial celestial bodies. This goal should be achieved by improving the current theories of motion and by evaluating their determining forces in a more sophisticated way.

Detailed theoretical understanding of the dynamics of satellites should coincide with the results of precise tracking in order to obtain the most precise knowledge possible of the orbit and the corresponding orbital positions.

Two different sessions (both as two-day meetings) are part of the Panel on Satellite Dynamics:

PSD.1 The scope of the Panel on Satellite Dynamics entails the positioning of a wide range of objects in space, including Earth orbiting satellites for Earth observation such as GRACE, GOCE, Swarm and the Copernicus Sentinels, and navigation satellite systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS or tracking systems such as SLR and DORIS. In addition, positioning plays an important role in the success of the continuously growing number of today’s and tomorrow’s planetary and solar system missions. Limiting errors in Precise Orbit Determination (solar radiation pressure, time variable gravity fields, phase center corrections, etc…) are of critical interest for many stakeholders. Moreover, formations of satellites are being realized and proposed for Earth observation and fundamental sciences, that impose very severe constraints on (relative) positioning and orbit and attitude control solutions (e.g. micro-propulsion). Satellite orbit determination requires the availability of tracking systems, well established reference frames and accurate station coordinate solutions, detailed force and satellite models, and high-precision time and frequency standards. Contributions are solicited covering all recent developments and plans in ground, satellite or probe positioning and navigation.

PSD.2 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are playing an increasing role in monitoring the Earth’s environment. Together with other space geodesy techniques (InSAR, DORIS, ICESat, LiDAR, GRACE/GOCE and Radar Altimetry, etc.), it can measure changes to the land surface geometry with millimeter accuracy, and sub-meter pixel resolution. This session will address current geodetic and remote sensing capabilities, sensing/imaging in order to measure and monitor terrain, ground moisture, water cycle effects, ice/snow melting, ocean circulation and sea state, atmospheric  weather and climate, earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanic activity, and more, warning using a variety of geodetic and remote sensing techniques. Papers on combining GNSS with in-situ observations and other satellite or airborne sensor data, as well as discussing new applications for such systems, and future missions/challenges are also welcome.