IVS Procedures for Observing Proposals


1. Introduction

The International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS)
coordinates observing sessions to acquire VLBI data for analysis
and production of results. IVS has observing programs for EOP, 
TRF, and CRF sessions. There are also R&D sessions intended to 
improve the VLBI technique. The IVS Observing Program Committee 
(OPC) designs and plans the observing for each calendar year, 
based on discussions held during the latter part of the previous year. 


2. Policy

Observing proposals in addition to the IVS programs will be 
accepted and reviewed by the OPC. IVS coordinates the 
geodetic/astrometric sessions of its member organizations. 
The network stations, correlators, and data centers have joined 
IVS and offered their resources to be coordinated. Therefore
any proposed observing sessions must be consistent with the purpose 
of IVS for geodesy and astrometry. Proposals that are not
strictly for geodesy/astrometry but are of a fundamental
nature will be considered, but special requests will be made
of the IVS components for support of such an experiment.

No specific amount of observing time is pre-allocated, but
there may be opportunities for a limited number of 24-hr sessions 
with an 8-station (maximum size) network. All proposals will 
be evaluated on a case by case basis. 


3. How to Submit a Proposal

Proposals should be sent via e-mail to the IVS Coordinating
Center at ivscc@ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov. The proposal will be
reviewed by the OPC and a preliminary response will be sent
to the proposer within one month of receipt. Actual scheduling
of the proposed observations may take up to a year, depending
on the resources required.

Proposals should be no more than about two pages long and
must include the following information:

- PI name, affiliation, and contact information
- Requested observing time, desired network, scheduling
  assistance
- Requested data availability (either restricted to PI only 
  for six months or freely available to the community)
- Scientific/technical justification

The justification must demonstrate how the proposed observing 
will further the IVS goals and why the data should be restricted
(if requested). The OPC may request further details or 
justification from the PI. 


4. Services Provided and Data Policy

Proposals accepted by the IVS OPC will be coordinated using the
following procedures. 

- Observing time: The Coordinating Center will allocate the 
observing time on IVS Network Stations based on the master 
schedule. 

- Scheduling: If the PI requires assistance with generating
the observing schedule, the project will be assigned to an 
IVS Operation Center that will provide help with scheduling. 
PIs are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this help.
If no assistance is requested then the Coordinating Center
will expect that PI will generate the schedule. Schedules 
and notes must be provided to the Coordinating Center
a minimum of two weeks in advance of the observing date for
checking and review. The final schedule and notes files are
due one week before the observing date. The Coordinating
Center will provide sufficient assistance to ensure that
the data is acquired successfully. The PI is responsible
for the schedule design and source list.

- Correlation: Correlation will be assigned to one of the IVS 
correlators. Production of version 1 of the data base will be 
made by the correlator. Production of the version 4 data base 
will be assigned to one of the IVS Operation Centers. If 
restricted data availability is requested by the PI, the 
version 1 data base will be provided to the PI directly and 
version 4 will be submitted to the IVS Data Centers six months 
after completion of the correlation. If no request for a data 
embargo is made, the data base will be submitted as usual to 
the IVS Data Centers immediately after correlation.