************************************************************************ IERS Message No. 83 February 02, 2006 ************************************************************************ IERS Workshop on Global Geophysical Fluids: First Announcement FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT IERS WORKSHOP on COMBINATION RESEARCH and GLOBAL GEOPHYSICAL FLUIDS The main goal of the workshop will be the improvement of IERS Global Geophysical Fluid Centre (GGFC) products in accuracy, consistency, stability, timeliness, user-friendly access, and documentation, to contribute significantly to the "Global Geodetic Observation System" (GGOS). The workshop will be held at the Parc Belle Vue Hotel in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, October 5 - 6, 2006. The GGFC Special Bureau's (SBs) have the responsibility of supporting, facilitating, and providing services to the scientific research community, the IAG services and common users, in areas related to the variations in Earth rotation, gravity field, geocenter, and surface deformations that are caused by mass transport in the atmosphere-hydrosphere-solid Earth-core system, or the global geophysical fluids. The rapidly increasing precision of space-geodetic observation techniques allows us to measure displacements of the Earth surface resulting from surface loads on finer spatial and temporal scales. These observations offer an opportunity for validating the geophysical surface mass models (ocean tides, the atmsophere, groundwater, non-tidal oceans) driving the deformations. On the other hand, to improve the results of space geodetic analyses, increasingly complex geophysical models of station motion are required (as emphasised, e.g., in the IERS Conventions). To maximize our ability to interpret the geodetic observations, the IERS conventions and standards for modelling, parameterisation and analysis strategies will have to be reviewed. In view of the requirements of the new satellite missions and the demanding questions concerning global change and the interaction of the Earth's System, the products of the GGFC, their accuracy and consistency become more and more important. The computed quantities, algorithm and data formats need to be standardized and results are documented, archived and made available to the public on dedicated individual SB websites or the IERS Data- and Information System. The workshop will take an insightful review where we are and will generate a plan for where we should be in the near future, while further define the roles and responsibilities of the GGFC in serving the community. A two-day workshop is planned. After technical reports which review the current status and which propose plans for the future from each of the eight Special Bureaus (Atmosphere, Oceans, Hydrology, Tides, Mantle, Core, Gravity/Geocenter, Loading) a technical forum of individuals including SB members/associates and anyone from community will discuss scientific contributions, viewpoints, concerns and issues. For each of the major topics (sessions) a position paper will be written by the session conveners and made available before the workshop. It will contain the present status, the future requirements, and recommendations and schedules on how to realize the envisaged goals. A follow-up second announcement with a more detailed program and registration forms will be released in May / June 2006. With kind regards Tonie van Dam, Head of IERS Global Geophysical Fluids Centre Bernd Richter, Director of IERS Central Bureau ************************************************************************ 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/ ************************************************************************