Affiliation of Portugal and Spain to International Geodesy Assembly approved - Communication

Secretaria Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Comunidades

After presenting the project for the creation of affiliates to the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) in 2022, a meeting this week approved the creation of IberAtlantic, given that Spain and Portugal form a region of great geodetic interest, with already consolidated infrastructures and common geographical areas - and with excellent collaboration in the geodetic field with the Regional Government of the Azores.

The RAEGE project is an example of this. It has a radio telescope at Santa Maria Station that is already fitted out to use the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) technique, being fundamental to the field of geodesy and the only VLBI installation in Portugal.

GGOS is the Global Geodetic Observation System of the International Assembly of Geodesy (IAG), whose scope of study is planet Earth, more precisely the record of changes occurring over time, whether due to the natural dynamics of the planet (i.e. tectonic plates, seismicity, volcanism) or due to other sources such as climate change.

GGOS is ultimately the metrological basis for the assessment of planet Earth. It finds answers on global deformations and mass exchanges, providing the reference system for all location-dependent observations and measurements of temporal and spatial changes in the Earth's shape, gravity and rotation.

Affiliates provide a forum for discussions of space geodetic multitechniques, work to improve the quality of space geodetic observations and encourage the different entities in that country or region to collaborate in implementing and maintaining local space geodetic infrastructures.