International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS)

    Call for Proposals for IVS Combination Centers


SUMMARY

The IVS Directing Board solicits proposals for the installation
and operation of IVS Combination Centers. 

The IVS is an international collaboration of organizations 
which operate or support VLBI components. Its primary objective
is to foster VLBI programs as a joint service to support geodetic,
astrometric, geophysical, and other research and operational
activities.

Proposers must provide their own financial resources to carry
out the functions of the IVS Combination Center and must 
indicate their organizational commitment in their proposal.
As the IVS cannot provide financial resources, the commitment
of organizations hosting the proposed Combination Centers will
be an important consideration in the proposal review.


TASKS AND REQUIREMENTS

The IVS Analysis Centers regularly submit session-based 
results of their analyses in the form of EOP time series 
and/or datum-free normal equations in SINEX format for 24h 
network sessions and 1h single-baseline INTENSIVE 
sessions. The tasks of the IVS Combination Center include 
quality control and a timely combination of these 
intermediate results to a final combination product (e.g.,
Earth Orientation Parameters, EOP). After consultation with
the IVS Analysis Coordinator the combination results shall
be released as official IVS products. The Combination Center
is also expected to contribute to the generation of the
official IVS input to any ITRF activities.

A commitment is required that EOP are delivered throughout 
the year in a timely fashion for the IERS to include the 
IVS output in its operational products. In addition, 
scientific supervision should guide the activities for a 
continuous development of state-of-the-art procedures in 
close cooperation with the IVS Analysis Coordinator.


PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

Proposers must use the standard form as the basis for the
preparation of their proposals. The standard proposal form
is available on the IVS Web (http://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov/)
at ftp://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/forms/comc-form.txt.

Please download the proposal form and edit it to fill in the
requested information. Descriptive text may be inserted in
the form at the point it is requested or you may attach separate
pages. The final length of the proposal should be no longer
than a total of four pages, but two pages are preferred.

The proposal form must be signed by a responsible individual
committing the organization to participate in the IVS.

After you have completed the proposal form, print it out, obtain
the required signature, and send it via mail to the address
below. We also request that you e-mail the proposal (without
signature but with the signature name typed in) for archiving.
The e-mail version may be in ASCII or you may attach a Word
or PDF file.

Proposals should be submitted by mail (with original signature)
so that they are received by 1 September 2008. Mail proposals to:

Dirk Behrend
IVS Coordinating Center Director
NVI, Inc./Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 698
Greenbelt, MD 20771
USA
E-mail: Dirk.Behrend@nasa.gov


PROPOSAL DEADLINE AND REVIEW

Proposals are due, at the location given above and via e-mail, no
later than 1 September 2008. Proposals received by this date will
be reviewed by the IVS Directing Board at its 20th meeting in
Penticton, Canada on 13 September 2008. Successful proposers will
be notified by October 2008.

Proposals can also be submitted at any time after the given deadline.
The IVS Directing Board will review those proposals in due time.