The '
Spatial Geodesy Research Group''(, GRGS) is a French group established to advance
space geodesy
Space geodesy is geodesy by means of sources external to Earth, mainly artificial satellites (in satellite geodesy) but also quasars (in very-long-baseline interferometry, VLBI), visible stars (in stellar triangulation), and the retroreflect ...
. It is composed of ten public bodies (
CNES
CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...
,
IGN
''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
,
INSU,
SHOM
The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ( or SHOM) is a French public establishment of an administrative nature () administered by the Ministry of Armed Forces. It is the successor to the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, founded ...
,
Bureau des longitudes
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The ''Bureau des Longitudes'' () is a French scientific institution, founded by decree of 25 June 1795 and charged with the improvement of nautical navigation, standardisation of time-keeping, geodesy and astronomical observation. Durin ...
,
Observatoire de Paris
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...
,
Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées
The Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) is an astronomical observatory part of Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier University, France.
It federates the laboratories of the (astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics an ...
,
Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur,
Université de la Polynésie française
The University of French Polynesia () is a French university located in Puna'auia, French Polynesia.
History
Created by a decree of May 29, 1987, the university was originally called French Pacific University and was split between two sites ...
,
ESGT du
CNAM) providing their researchers, engineers, technicians, administrative staff (more than 100 people) and the appropriate research environment..
The GRGS, spread over the whole of France (Grasse, Toulouse, Paris, Brest, Tahiti, Le Mans), is structured as a real laboratory, with a Steering Committee, a Scientific Directorate and its Scientific Council, an Office, a supported Evaluation Committee on the sections of the CNRS, and an Executive Director. The GRGS has organized summer schools every two years in the premises of the ENSG in Forcalquier, and each year various scientific days, in order to facilitate the progression of knowledge in the community.
Funding
In view of the subjects dealt with, the financing of equipment and operations is, in addition to the own funds of the laboratories involved, mainly provided by
CNES
CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...
. These funds are managed by th
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers(INSU), whose core business is effectively the financing of research in astronomy and geophysics on behalf of the State.
When it was created, CNES was given the task of supporting research in space fields, and as such the GRGS is one of the 5 French space laboratories. One of the aspects that sometimes makes the system complex for an external observer is that the CNES, like the other partners, also provides the GRGS with research staff: it thus appears both as one of the constituent laboratories and as the financial partner of all the research carried out by all, even if it is not the same branches of CNES which are involved in these two cases.
This "outsourcing" within a larger whole that is the GRGS generally corresponds for each organization to a concern for the quality of the work of its researchers, as it is difficult in such specialized fields to engage in research activities. evaluation without being both judge and party.
Research fields
The activities pooled within the GRGS are therefore research activities in spatial geodesy, but they are also observatory activities, which typically could not therefore be financed through traditional scientific calls for tenders, and which are consistent with the objectives and statutes of the 10 member organizations. This association thus makes it possible to add up their strengths quite widely.
This grouping has obtained first-rate results to its credit in scientific terms: for example the GRIM global gravity field models, the most accurate currently available, the ITRS and ITRF global geodetic references on which virtually all geodetic systems are built. national and continental markets of the world, the development of numerous tools:
* laser telemetry stations on artificial satellites or on the Moon,
* scientific software: GINS, CATREF, ...
* satellites and more or less complete participations in major space tools:
Stella
Stella or STELLA may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Stella'' (1921 film), directed by Edwin J. Collins
* ''Stella'' (1943 film), with Zully Moreno
* ''Stella'' (1950 film), with Ann Sheridan and Victor Mature
* ''Stella'' (1955 ...
,
Starlet, Topex-Poseidon, Jason 1 and 2, Doris, Champ, Goce, Grace, ...
See also
Related articles
*
geodesy
Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...
*
International Celestial Reference System
The International Celestial Reference System (ICRS) is the current standard celestial reference system adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Its origin is at the barycenter of the Solar System, with axes that are intended to "sho ...
*
geodesic system
In geometry, a geodesic () is a curve representing in some sense the locally shortest path ( arc) between two points in a surface, or more generally in a Riemannian manifold. The term also has meaning in any differentiable manifold with a connec ...
*
geomantics
References
External links
*
CNES*
SHOM*
Bureau des Longitudes*
Laboratoire de recherches en Géodésie (LAREG) de l'Institut Géographique National*
Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur*
Observatoire Midi Pyrénées*
INSU*
Laboratoire de Géodésie et de Géomatique de l'Ecole Supérieure des Géomètres et Topographes* {{In lang, fr}
Université de Polynésie FrançaiseIERS International Terrestrial Reference System pageIERS International Terrestrial Reference Frame page
Geodesy organizations
Scientific organizations based in France