Report of the Technical Workshop for APT and APSG in 1996 (TWAA96)
Yukio Takahashi (takahashi(AT)nict.go.jp)
Kashima Space Research Center
Communications Research Laboratory
893-1 Hirai, Kashima, Ibaraki 314, Japan
Technical Workshop for APT and APSG 1996 (TWAA96) was held at
a hotel near the Kashima Space Research Center of the
Communications Research Laboratory from December 10 to December 13, 1996.
The workshop was the first joint technical workshop for Asia-Pacific
Telescope (APT) and Asia-Pacific Space Geodynamics (APSG) Project.
Since we considered there are many technical issues commonly applicable
to the APT and the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)
part of APSG, we decided to make the meeting a joint
technical workshop for APT and APSG. While APT is a regional VLBI network
established by the Asia-Pacific countries for Radio Astronomy and Geodesy,
APSG was established to conduct Geodetic research of the Asia-Pacific region
by utilizing Space Geodetic technologies such as VLBI, Satellite Laser Ranging
(SLR), and Global Positioning System (GPS). Therefore, the workshop covered
technical issues of VLBI, SLR and GPS, and sciences of both Geodesy and
Astronomy. The agenda of this workshop consisted of the following four items.
Developments and New Technologies in VLBI, SLR, and GPS.
Compatibility issues of the VLBI data acquisition system were discussed.
Status Report.
Recent status of the APT and APSG projects, observation sites,
and data processing centers (including VLBI correlator centers)
were reported.
Collaboration of APT and APSG.
Other Projects.
Other projects such as VSOP and Antarctica VLBI experiments were discussed.
A large part of the time was allocated for
the status reports from many organizations to exchange the latest
information among the APT and APSG community. These reports ranged
from the recent activities of global networks to status of individual
observatories. The status report sessions were then followed by technology
development sessions and science sessions. After these sessions, the open
discussion session concluded the workshop. On the last day (December
13, 1996), there were two excursion tours, one to Geographical Survey
Institute in Tsukuba, and the other to the Tokyo Headquarters of the
Communications Research Laboratory in Koganei, Tokyo and to National
Astronomical Observatory in Mitaka, Tokyo. We were grateful that many
colleagues from 9 countries worldwide attended the
workshop. We believe the scientific outputs and discussions during the
workshop definitely strengthened our collaboration for the APT and APSG.
The importance of observations using space geodetic technology in the
Asia-Pacific area are increasing, and there is much potential for
collaboration in the APT and APSG. This workshop was helpful in
their co-operation and the exchange of the valuable information.
All staffs of the Radio Astronomy Applications Section in the Kashima
Space Research Center contributed to various aspects to ensure the success of
this meeting.
1. Participants
We listed 39 foreign participants.
Australia(7); D.Jauncey, J.Manning, J.Reynolds, M.Costa, P.Harbison,
J.Lauf and P.Edwards.
China(7); Y.Shuhua, Z.Junliang, Q.Zhihan, Z.Wenyao, C.Junyong, A.Yusup,
and Z.Yang.
Russia(7); M.Kaidanovski, A.Finkelstein, I.Ipatova, I.Molotov,
S.Likhachev, A.Rodin and E.Brumberg.
USA(6); J.Bosworth, T.Clark, A.Whitney, A.Niell, V.Altunin and E.Himwich.
India(4); A.Singal, S.Ananthakrishnan, H.Vats and T.Das.
Canada(3); W.Cannon, P.Newby and G.Feil.
Korea(3); J.Hoon, M.Chol and K.Jongsoo.
Netherlands(JIVE)(1); L.Gurvits.
Germany(1); Hayo Hase.
V.Migenes contributed only proceedings, although he could not attend this
meeting.
For Japanese participants, 24 staff members of CRL attended this meeting. There were
34 participants from other institutes, and 32 participants from various companies.
Total number of participants was 129.
2. Presentations
We summarize the presentations at this meeting. As the opening session,
D.Jauncey in CSIRO presented the current status of APT and Ye Shuhua in the
Shanghai Observatory presented the recent status of APSG projects. After the
opening session, the status reports of individual observatories and projects
were presented with regard to wide area networks and projects, regional networks
and projects, and the activities of individual institutes. Many important
topics were presented: "CORE" and NASA Geodesy program, JIVE, GPS networks
(WING), SLR network (WPLTN), Antarctica VLBI experiments, space VLBI projects
(VSOP), LBA in Australia, KSP by CRL, the Japanese VLBI network and VERA by NAO,
VLBI in DSN, status report of GSI (GPS, SAR and VLBI) and GMRT in India.
Furthermore, it was very valuable to have status reports from Korea, China,
Australia and other countries. In this session, there were 21 presentations.
The third was a discussion about developments of technology. There were 26
presentations. We divided them into 6 parts as follows: (1) Antenna and
Receivers and Front-end, (2) Real Time VLBI, (3) Field system and scheduling,
(4) Recorders and Acquisition terminals, (5) Correlator, (6) Tropospheric Delay
Correction. Each topic was discussed eagerly. Especially, the compatibility
of scheduling, VLBI terminals and correlators were important for this meeting,
together with the exchange of information for the new VLBI techniques.
The fourth session was concerned with Science and others topics. There were 7
presentations concerning VLBI and APT and geodesy and astronomy.
14 topics were presented by poster. The total number of presentations at
this meeting was 70.
For details we refer to the published proceedings of this meetings.
3. Resolutions
There was an open discussion at the end of this meeting. The conclusions and
resolutions made in the open discussion session are summarized by Dr.~David
L.~Jauncey and Dr.~John Reynolds. One was to encourage the formation of the
fundamental reference and calibration stations in Asian-Pacific region. The
modern space techniques (VLBI, SLR, GPS etc.) together with other techniques
are colocated and operated on a long term basis for the establishment and
maintenance of the global reference frame. Second was an expression of
APT support for the
acquisition of geodetic VLBI data as a contribution to GIS (Geographic
Information System). The committee on GIS has initiated an Asia and Pacific
Regional Geodetic Project for October 1997. Third was to deliver
information concerning the new Field System which has been developed by NASA.
Fifth was to adopt the proposals for APT experiments.
4. Proceedings
We believe that this proceedings is a valuable source for information
in the APT and APSG community, and also in the worldwide VLBI group.
Numerous copies of the TWAA96 proceedings are available. For copies of the
proceedings of this meeting, please contact Y.Takahashi
(E-mail: takahashi(AT)nict.go.jp).
Acknowledgments
We could hold this meeting as the host institute with full support from
Science and Technology Agency (STA) and Japan International Science and
Technology Exchange Center (JISTEC). Furthermore, the staff of the
administration section in the Kashima Space Research Center, and the staff of
Standards and Measurements Division supported us in holding this workshop. We
are grateful to them for this support. Many participants visited this meeting
from various countries. We are also grateful to all participants.