************************************************************************ IERS Message No. 42 April 25, 2003 ************************************************************************ Dear colleagues, At the recent meeting of the IERS Directing Board in Paris (April 2, 2003), the conclusions of the IERS Retreat (Paris, March 31 - April 1, 2003) were reviewed. The Retreat was convened to determine the future direction of the Service focusing on the improvement of the consistency and accuracy of its products. The IERS Directing Board noted that the name of the Service is slightly misleading since it describes only one of its major activities. The preamble of the IERS as given in its Terms of Reference reads: The International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) was established in 1987 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and began operation on 1 January 1988. IERS is a member of the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Data Analysis Services (FAGS). The primary objectives of the IERS are to serve the astronomical, geodetic, and geophysical communities by providing the following: - The International Celestial Reference System (ICRS) and its realization, the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). - The International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) and its realization, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). - Earth orientation parameters required to study Earth orientation variations and to transform between the ICRF and the ITRF. - Geophysical data to interpret time/space variations in the ICRF, ITRF, or Earth orientation parameters, and model such variations. - Standards, constants, and models (i.e., conventions) encouraging international adherence. These Terms of Reference show clearly that the IERS is composed of a broad spectrum of activities performed by governmental, academic, and selected commercial organizations. In order to reflect the Service's broader spectrum of generated products, the Directing Board decided unanimously to change the name, without modifying either the acronym (IERS) or its goals and missions, to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (Service International de la Rotation de la Terre et des Systèmes de Référence). Therefore, I am asking you to be so kind and recognize this important change when using the full name of the Service. Jan Vondrák Chairman of the IERS Directing Board ************************************************************************ IERS Messages are edited and distributed by the IERS Central Bureau. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please write to . Archives: http://www.iers.org/iers/publications/messages/ ************************************************************************