fourthivsgeneralmeeting.docVIP

International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry Russian Academy of Sciences Russian Foundation for Basic Research Scientific Council on Time Positioning and Navigation Institute of Applied Astronomy The 5th General Meetingof the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry MEASURING THE FUTURE March 2–6, 2008 St. Petersburg, Russia Program St. Petersburg 2008 ? Institute of Applied Astronomy RAS, 2008 General information The Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAA RAS) invites the international VLBI community to attend the 5th IVS General Meeting to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 2–6, 2008. 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 5th General Meeting will be the vital contribution of VLBI to the future of global observing systems under the theme of “Measuring the Future”. VLBI is a key technique for realizing the global reference frames and studying global change by monitoring the full set of Earth orientation parameters (polar motion, dUT1, celestial pole). Required accuracy levels and long-term stability can only be guaranteed with a rejuvenated VLBI system. The content of the meeting is 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. In addition to the Ge