report of the action team on global navigation satellite systems (gnss)

will be significantly useful to all States for building GNSS technical capability and humanresources in <strong>the</strong> Latin American and <strong>the</strong> Caribbean regions.Satellite Geodesy Group (SGG)347. The activities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> group are concentrated on two regions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country: Tierra delFuego, <strong>the</strong> island in <strong>the</strong> far South <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Argentinean territory, and <strong>the</strong> Province <strong>of</strong> Buenos Aires,on <strong>the</strong> Rio de la Plata.348. In 1993, <strong>the</strong> first Argentinean provincial network was built up, measured and calculatedby <strong>the</strong> SGG in Tierra del Fuego. This network has been used to develop a GIS in a moderngeodetic framework in co-operation with <strong>the</strong> Tierra del Fuego Geodetic Service.349. This network has been measured several times to detect tectonic movements. In 1999, <strong>the</strong>first signal <strong>of</strong> displacements between <strong>the</strong> Scotia and <strong>the</strong> South American plates was <strong>report</strong>ed by<strong>the</strong> SGG.350. At 2002, <strong>the</strong> network was being expanded to improve <strong>the</strong> resolution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se results. In1999, <strong>the</strong> Geographic Military Institute established <strong>the</strong> first levelling line in Tierra del Fuego. Aco-operation agreement was carried out to measure this line with GPS in <strong>the</strong> framework <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>province network. The differences between mean sea level heights and GPS ellipsoidal heightsallowed <strong>the</strong> SGG to obtain valuable information on <strong>the</strong> geoid behaviour in <strong>the</strong> Tierra del Fuegoregion. However, <strong>the</strong> spatial distribution <strong>of</strong> this data was quite poor since <strong>the</strong>re were large regionsdifficult to reach.351. In 2002, a co-operation programme with <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Dresden (Germany) waslaunched. The project would use <strong>the</strong> Fagnano lake surface as a gigantic level measuring with GPSin special buoys, toge<strong>the</strong>r with tide gauges information. These new measurements are expected tosignificantly improve <strong>the</strong> Tierra del Fuego geoid model.352. It is also important to note that a permanent GPS station has been operated in Rio Grande(IGS-riog) by SGG in co-operation with <strong>the</strong> GFZ (Germany).353. The Buenos Aires province is <strong>the</strong> richest region <strong>of</strong> Argentina. Its area is comparable tothat <strong>of</strong> Germany. In 1977, La Plata University and <strong>the</strong> Government <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Province <strong>of</strong> BuenosAires signed an agreement to establish a high precision GPS network in <strong>the</strong> province. The taskwas achieved by <strong>the</strong> SGG working in co-operation with <strong>the</strong> local geodetic service.354. In 1998, a first network containing 200 points was finished and in 2002 a densificationwas carried out adding 100 new points. This network was developed using <strong>the</strong> same marks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>national levelling network allowing <strong>the</strong> direct determination <strong>of</strong> a centimetre accurate geoid modelfor <strong>the</strong> region. In 2000, <strong>the</strong> Buenos Aires geodetic service established <strong>the</strong> obligation to refer all<strong>the</strong> rural parcels to this network as a first step for a local GIS.355. It is also important to point out that <strong>the</strong> first permanent GPS station in Argentina (IGSlpgs)was installed in 1995 in this Faculty by <strong>the</strong> SGG in co-operation with <strong>the</strong> GFZ (Germany).62