Meetings
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Fourth IVS General Meeting
January 9-13, 2006
Concepción, Chile
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Overview
Poster
Location
Pre-meeting Excursion
Schedule
Accomodation
Registration
Program
Submit an Abstract
Information for Authors
Proceedings
Presentations
Summer School
Travel Information
Invitations
Program Committee
Local Committee
Pictures
The IVS holds a technical meeting, called the General Meeting, every two years.
The purpose of the meeting is to assemble representatives from all IVS components
to share information, hear reports, and plan future activities. The meeting also
provides a forum for interaction with other members of the VLBI and Earth science
communities.
The keynote of the fourth General Meeting will be the next
generation VLBI system following the main theme of "Next Generation
VLBI2010". A new geodetic VLBI instrument that will meet requirements for the
coming decades is envisioned to have small, fast moving antennas, high-speed networks,
new correlator systems, and a streamlined data analysis pipeline. Now is the
time to initiate system studies and simulations as well as development projects
and prototyping to help bring this vision into reality.
Keynote speakers will be asked to address the keynote in their presentations.
The content of the meeting will be of interest to the broad spectrum of IVS members
as well as to the wider VLBI and Earth science community. All IVS Associate Members
and individuals who have interests in the various applications and research fields of
VLBI such as geodesy, astrometry, Earth sciences, and related fields are encouraged
to attend the meeting and to make an oral or poster presentation. Non-IVS members are
cordially invited to attend the meeting and to make a presentation.
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The official poster of the General Meeting can be downloaded in various
formats and resolutions:
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The meeting will be held on the campus
of the Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile. The university
provides a Wireless LAN (red inalámbrica) at no cost to the user. Your laptop will
detect automatically the network "UdeC_Wi-Fi". You should be able to use this network
if your laptop supports WiFi 8002.11b or 8002.11g. The Wep passcode is "wi-fi".
Please read more information on the service at
http://www.udec.cl/wifi/index.php
(in Spanish).
The LOC is arranging a pre-meeting technical visit to ESO's
Paranal Observatory,
an optical interferometer near Antofagasta, northern Chile. The visit is scheduled
for Saturday, January 7, 2006. Please visit the excursion page
for the details.
The overall schedule of the week includes the General Meeting sessions plus related meetings.
| Day |
Date |
Meeting |
Location |
| Sun |
Jan 8 |
Registration (afternoon) |
Hotel Diego de Almagro |
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Icebreaker reception (evening) |
Hotel Diego de Almagro |
| Mon |
Jan 9 |
General Meeting session 1 (morning) |
University of Concepción |
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General Meeting session 2 (afternoon) |
University of Concepción |
| Tue |
Jan 10 |
General Meeting session 3 (morning) |
University of Concepción |
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General Meeting session 4 (afternoon) |
University of Concepción |
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Visit of Geodetic Observatory TIGO (evening) |
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| Wed |
Jan 11 |
General Meeting session 5 (morning) |
University of Concepción |
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General Meeting session 6 (afternoon) |
University of Concepción |
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Conference Dinner (evening) |
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| Thu |
Jan 12 |
Analysis Workshop (all day) |
University of Concepción |
| Fri |
Jan 13 |
Directing Board meeting (all day) |
University of Concepción |
The local committee has booked a block of rooms at the
Hotel Diego de Almagro, Chacabuco 156,
Concepción which will also be the venue for the icebreaker party on
Sunday evening, January 8, 2006. The block will be held open until one month before the meeting.
Choose one of these methods to book a room:
- Send a fax to Mrs Jessica Burgos at the number +56-41-403700 and mention the keywords
"IVS General Meeting 2006".
- Send an email to Mrs Jessica Burgos
and mention the keywords "IVS General Meeting 2006".
If you need support for making the hotel reservation please contact
Jenny Neumann.
The following special room rates are offered:
- Single Standard: 60 USD/night (31.000 CLP)
- Double Standard: 70 USD/night (35.000 CLP)
- Single Superior: 80 USD/night (40.000 CLP)
- Double Superior: 90 USD/night (52.000 CLP)
- Triple: 90 USD/night (50.000 CLP)
- Additional Bed: 12.000 CLP
The hotel bill ("factura") can be paid with a major credit card. If you pay in US dollar
and ask for a "factura de exportación", you will be exempt from the value added
tax (Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido, IVA).
Hotel Diego de Almagro has two floors with WLAN access on the rooms (levels 10 and 11) and
offers three computers with Internet access in the office center (open 24 hours). It is a
pleasant 15-minute-walk from the hotel to the conference hall on the campus of the University
of Concepción covering a distance of about 1200 m (11 blocks) and passing through
the Parque Ecuador. You may also take a taxi. The city center of Concepción is
in walking distance and can be reached in less than 10 minutes. An airport pick-up
service is available for about 3.000 CLP (6 USD), the ride takes about 15 minutes by car.
Maps of the region and town of Concepción as well as the
university campus of the Universidad de Concepción are available at:
The Hotel Diego de Almagro is represented by a red dot with the number "4" in the town center map.
The opening ceremony of the meeting will be held at Casa del Arte (2 in campus map), the oral sessions
will be held in the Fac. Ingeniería (15), the poster area will be between Fac. Cs. Químicas
(11) and the Foro Universitario (28), and lunch will be available at the Casino Los Patos (17).
The registration fee is $220 US payable at the meeting. Payment can be accepted only in US
dollars or the equivalent in Chilean pesos in cash. It includes conference materials,
conference dinner, coffee breaks, and transfer to TIGO.
The deadline for registering was December 9, 2005.
Late registration was accepted until December 23, 2005. Online registration is now
closed and participants must register on-site at the meeting.
The final schedule, program, and abstracts are available in PDF and Word format:
Hard copies will be provided to particpants at the meeting.
The Program Committee and session conveners prepared the following session descriptions.
| Session |
Title |
Conveners |
Description |
| 1 |
VLBI in Science and Application |
Harald Schuh,
Jinling Li |
The outstanding VLBI results available today are valuable for various
fields of science and are needed for many practical applications. The
contribution of VLBI to IAG's GGOS (Global Geodetic Observing System)
project and to multi-disciplinary research will be demonstrated. |
| 2 |
Next Generation VLBI |
Bill Petrachenko,
Arthur Niell |
A major focus of the IVS over the past several
years has been the development of a long range plan for geodetic VLBI. The final report
of WG3 entitled "VLBI2010: Current and Future Requirements for Geodetic VLBI Systems"
recommends 13 areas for further work, split equally between system studies and actual
prototyping efforts. Gaining this knowledge is critical for both developing a rational
plan for the future and for defining a detailed specification for the next generation
geodetic VLBI system. This session will report on any efforts (proposed, underway or
complete) intended to shed light on these remaining questions. We invite contributions
on creative new ideas for all aspects of geodetic VLBI, including such topics as
antenna construction and configuration, observing scenarios, advanced correlator
design, modeling and analysis strategies, and estimation methods. |
| 3 |
Network Stations, Operation Centers, Correlators |
Yasuhiro Koyama,
Ed Himwich |
This session focuses on the recent activities
and future plans at VLBI networks, stations and correlators. Presentations about issues
that relate to improving VLBI data quality in general and more particularly with regard
to "VLBI2010" are solicited. Also welcome are submissions concerning the GGOS Project's
contributions to local surveys to determine the spacial vectors from the radio telescopes
to co-located geodetic instruments. Network station status reports should be submitted
to this session, but should be presented as poster papers. |
| 4 |
New Technology Developments in VLBI |
Alan Whitney,
Gino Tuccari |
This session will concentrate on new
technology developments in VLBI that have occurred recently or are currently in development.
Included (but not limited to) are such topics as 1) development of digital processing
technologies in the VLBI signal chain that are expected to soon replace traditional analog
BBC’s, 2) continuing development and deployment of advanced high-data-rate disk-based
recording systems, 3) transmission of raw VLBI data via high speed networks, dubbed
‘e-VLBI’, 4) new correlator technologies and techniques, 5) RFI excision techniques,
6) advanced calibration techniques and 7) automation of station operations.
Contributors to the session are encouraged to report their progress and ideas on new
technologies and methods, and to show how these new developments will improve the overall
VLBI program. |
| 5 |
Software and Analysis Strategies |
Oleg Titov,
Johannes Boehm |
One of the objectives of IVS is to serve users with the most accurate
and reliable VLBI products. A broad variety of analysis strategies and
software of high quality is important for two reasons: Firstly,
results of single Analysis Centers can be cross-checked concerning
gross errors and the influence of subjective decisions of individual
analysts can be identified or reduced. Secondly, VLBI data analysis
will benefit from a constant constructive competition and interchange
of different ideas. Analysis Centers are invited to contribute papers
related to their current activities on the development and comparison
of analysis strategies, models and software. |
| 6 |
Results and Geodetic/Geophysical/Astrometric Interpretation |
Seiji Manabe,
Dan MacMillan |
The analysis of VLBI observations produces time series,
long-term average positions and rates, and values of physical parameters. Suggested topics
include the use of such VLBI results in modeling geophysical fluids from the atmosphere to
the core, nutation/precession, high frequency Earth orientation, refinement of the terrestrial
and celestial reference frames, interpretation of the motions of specific sites and sources,
astrophysical investigations, tests of relativity, and other scientific uses of geodetic and
astrometric VLBI data.
Also included are investigations of the troposphere and the ionosphere by VLBI. Another area
is the comparison, validation and combination of VLBI with other space geodetic techniques,
and the integration of the techniques within the framework of IAG's GGOS project. |
Abstract submission is closed. If you want to submit a late abstract, please contact
Dirk Behrend.
Both oral and poster papers will be published in the meeting proceedings. Please see the
proceedings section of this page for instructions on preparing
manuscripts.
Information for oral papers:
- All oral papers are 15 minutes, including discussion. Invited papers are 25 minutes,
including discussion.
- Presentation equipment will include a PC projector (plus laptop), one overhead
projector, a wireless microphone for the speaker, and a laser pointer.
Oral contributions are to be uploaded prior to the session. This should be
done the day before the session (or earlier) at the registration desk. The
registration desk will be located at the hotel (Sala Llanquihue) on Sunday,
January 8, and in front of the auditorium Monday through Wednesday, January
9-11. The auditorium is on the campus of Universidad de Concepción
in the Facultad de Ingeniería.
Information for poster papers:
- The space available for posters will be 180cm tall by 100cm wide.
- Materials for mounting posters will be provided.
- Posters may be put up in the poster area Monday morning.
- Posters will be left up for the duration of the meeting till Thursday 17:00.
Papers presented at the General Meeting will be published in a volume of Proceedings.
The proceedings will be published as a NASA Conference Publication. The reference
should be cited as follows: IVS 2006 General Meeting Proceedings, edited
by D. Behrend and K. D. Baver, NASA/CP-2006-214140.
Authors must follow the instructions for manuscript submission.
The deadline for submission of files for publication is February 10, 2006.
The "Journal of Geodesy" (JoG) will dedicate a Special Issue to VLBI to be edited by Harald
Schuh, Axel Nothnagel and Chopo Ma. Submission deadline for contributions to the
JoG Special Issue will be the end of March
(there will be a separate call for contributions).
General Meeting proceedings authors should consider submitting a contribution to
Journal of Geodesy in addition to the proceedings paper. The papers should be
different, however. Authors may submit, for instance, a shorter version to the
proceedings (extended abstract) and a longer one to JoG. Or they prepare two
papers highlighting different parts of their research work. The special issue
has an allowance of about 10 papers.
All oral presentations that were given at the meeting are available for downloading.
You can either browse
all presentation files or go to the presentations page that
will provide you with individual links to the presentations.
The Astronomy Group of the Universidad de Concepción (UdeC) was planning
to hold a Summer School on "Radioastronomy and Interferometry" directly following
the General Meeting. But for logistical constraints, the school had to be
postponed to a later date. Thus, a participation in that school is not possible.
Visa. For the majority of nationalities no visa is required. The Chilean
authorities will issue a tourist card and entry stamp that allow a stay of 90 days at the port
of entry (usually the airport of Santiago de Chile).
A passport is obligatory. To check if special visa requirements apply to your nationality, visit
the web site of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (SI = yes, NO = no) or contact a
Chilean Embassy/Consulate in your
country.
Weather. January is a pleasant summer month in Concepción. Expect a lot
of sunshine and temperatures ranging from 15°C (night) to 25°C (day). There is occasional morning
fog, which burns off quickly in the strong sun. Don't forget your sunglasses and protection for
your skin. After sunset, temperatures drop significantly. Due to its proximity to the ocean, always
expect a light breeze. The chances of rain are low. Still, when it rains, it usually pours.
For a weather forecast please visit Meteo Chile.
If you prefer to make your own forecast, you can use data
from TIGO: click "Meteorologia" and study the metsensor data for a given period ...
Time. Chile observes daylight saving time during the (southern) summer months and
is then 3 hours behind Univsersal Time: Chilean summer time = UTC–3hrs.
Arriving in Chile. International flights arrive at
SCL Arturo Benitez Airport
in the country's capital Santiago de Chile. The airport consists of an international and a
national terminal.
US, Canadian, Mexican, and Australian citizens first have to pay a "reciprocity" fee.
This fee is imposed in response to a similar fee Chilean citizens have to pay for visas
to these countries (reciprocity law). This payment is valid for the life of the passport
and currently amounts to: U.S.A (US$100), Canada (US$55), Mexico (US$15), and Australia (US$48).
Payment must be made in US cash and for the exact amount.
With your filled out immigration form (usually distributed during the flight) proceed to the
immigration area where you will receive a stamp in your passport together with a carbon
copy of your form. You must present this stamped form upon leaving the country again!
After passing immigration you will have to pick up your luggage in Santiago
regardless of whether it was checked through to another Chilean destination or not.
You have to clear customs and pass the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG). You
must declare any agricultural product by filling out a second form (also distributed
during the flight) as an official statement. SAG will x-ray your luggage to check.
In order to avoid problems, we recommend that you travel without any agricultural
products to Chile.
After passing the SAG service you can leave the restricted access area. Bienvenido
a Chile.
For your connecting domestic flight, take the elevator to your right and go to the
third level—Departure. Leaving the elevator, orientate yourself to the right and
proceed to the domestic terminal. Check in your luggage again and follow the
instructions.
Money. Chile's official currency is the Chilean Peso. You may
change cash at exchange offices to be found, for instance, at the airport in Santiago
or in the downtown area. Please note that you need to present your passport. Banks
and hotels offer usually less attractive exchange rates. The exchange rates change
constantly. The exchange rate of December 6, 2005 gives an idea of the relative value:
1 USD = 510 CLP, 1 EUR = 602 CLP.
Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are called RedBanca in Chile and are found in many
towns. Most teller machines accept cards with VISA Plus, Maestro, VISA, or Mastercard
signs. Small bills (taxi, bus, meal, drink, newspaper, tip) are expected to be payed in
cash. But avoid carrying large amounts of cash with you.
Language. Chile's official language is Spanish. Only a few Chileans
feel comfortable speaking English. Hence, your trip to Chile is an excellent opporturnity
to practice your Spanish. The conference language will be English.
Crime. In comparison to other Latin American countries, Chile is not
a high-crime country. Still, pick-pocketing is not unknown and you should avoid carrying
large amounts of money. Being a foreigner (gringo) enhances the chances of being targeted.
Take special care of your documents, money cards, and electronic devices. Always carry a
small amount of money at an easily accesible place (not your purse!) for unwanted
situations. Depending on the town area and time of the day/night, strolling is
more or less safe. For increased security go out in a group and return before midnight.
Electricity. The electrical power in Chile is 220 V AC at 50 Hz.
The power outlets are compatible with Euro-AV connectors (two round pins).
IVS will send a letter of invitation to attend the meeting as a means of support.
If this would be of assistance for your travel plans, please contact the
IVS Coordinating Center
to request a letter. If you need a letter from the Chilean meeting host, please
contact Hayo Hase.
The members of the Program Committee were named by the Directing Board. Members are:
Members of the local organizing committee are:
Please feel free to contact any of the committee members with any questions.
Several people took pictures during the meeting and made them freely available.
Please use the following links to pages with thumbnails. Some thumbnail pages
allow downloading of the full size pictures by clicking on them.
You can also browse and download picture files on the ftp server.
You can also download two movies of the opening ceremony (huge files):
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