Background

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is responsible for promoting international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space. UNOOSA is located at the United Nations Office at Vienna, Austria. More information can be found at http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/index.html. Navigating through this page, one can find a link to a GNSS website, which contains information on UN/USA Workshops on the use and applications of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).

A series of four regional GNSS Workshops and two international Meetings of Experts, co-sponsored by the United Nations Programme on Space Applications and the Government of the United States of America, were organized. Three of these activities were co-sponsored by the European Space Agency. The workshops focused on specific applications of the use of existing and near-term GNSS and their augmentations to further global environment objectives as well as sustainable development programmes and deepened the understanding of these applications in developing countries. Such global systems include the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States of America, GLONASS of the Russian Federation and Galileo of the European Community countries. Applications include, among others, monitoring of the environment, precision agriculture, surveying and mapping, resource conservation, and disaster management.

The first regional workshop was held in Malaysia in August 2001 for the countries in Asia and the Pacific, followed by the second one held in Vienna, Austria, November 26–30, 2001, for the benefit of the countries in Eastern Europe. The third regional workshop was held in Santiago, Chile, April 1–5, 2002, for the benefit of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since this workshop, education and training has become a topic of interest to all participants. Therefore, it was included as a special session for the next workshops. The fourth Workshop was held in Lusaka, Zambia, July 15–19, 2002, for the benefit of the countries in Africa.

The conclusions and recommendations of all the regional workshops were reviewed by a group of experts at an international meeting, which took place in Vienna, Austria, November 11–15, 2002. A second expert meeting was held in the same city, December 8–12, 2003, in order to discuss the outcome of the first International Meeting of Experts and define strategies for the implementation of suggested pilot projects.

Presentations and documents on the web

The presentations and other important documents related to the UN/USA Workshops are available on-line. Below, one can find links to each one of the Workshops and International Meetings. After each one of them, some selected topics presented at these meetings are listed, as well as the respective titles of the presentations and authors. These topics include GNSS status, global and regional reference frames, GNSS applications for earth science, precision agriculture and environmental monitoring, just to mention a few. Another very important topic that was first introduced during the Santiago workshop concerns GNSS education and training.

First UN/USA workshop on the use of global navigation satellite systems, August 20–24, 2001, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Information on the workshop is available at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/act2001/malaysia2001.htm and the final program can be found at http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/act2001/gnss1/programmeE.doc doc

Some selected topics

  • The global positioning system: a global utility, Ms. Julie Karner and Ms. Rebecca Caswell (USA);

  • The use of GPS and mobile mapping for decision-based precision agriculture, Mr. Michael Rasher (USA);

  • Potential impacts of future developments in GNSSs to surveying and mapping, Prof. Dr. Cross (UK).

  • GPS: a primary tool for time transfer, Dr. W.J. Klepczynski (USA).

Second UN/USA regional workshop on the use of global navigation satellite systems, November 26–30, 2001, Vienna, Austria

Presentations are available at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/act2001/gnss2/presentations/index.html

Some selected topics

  • Status and development of Galileo, E. Ailio (European Commission) and H.-H. Fromm (European Space Agency);

  • River level monitoring using GPS heightening, T. Moore (UK).

  • The use of GPS and mobile mapping for decision-based precision agriculture, M. Rasher (USA);

  • European Union: how each EU member state makes policy on GNSS, E. Ailio (European Commission).

Third UN/USA workshop on the use and applications of global navigation satellite systems, for the benefit of Latin America and the Caribbean, April 1–5, 2002, Santiago, Chile

Presentations are available at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/act2002/gnss1/presentations/index.html

Some selected topics

  • Status and development of Glonass, S. Revnivych (Russian Federation);

  • The use of GNSS in navigation in Chile, L. Rossi Jofre (Chile);

  • The use of GPS in South American precision agriculture, J. P. Molin (Brazil);

  • The geocentric reference system for the Americas (SIRGAS): achievements and prospects, W. Martinez (Colombia);

  • Using GNSS for earth sciences in Brazil, J. F. G. Monico (Brazil);

  • GNNS Laboratory: human resources formation and research for civil aviation, F. Walter (Brazil).

Fourth UN/USA workshop on the use of global satellite positioning systems, for the benefit of Africa, July 15–19, 2002, in Lusaka, Zambia

Presentations are available at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/act2002/gnss2/presentations/index.html

Some selected topics

  • Status and development of global positioning system, J. Karner (USA);

  • Using GNSS to manage mountain forest resources in East Africa, C. Lambrechts (Kenya);

  • International GPS Service: global GNSS framework, R. Neilan (USA);

  • Plans for releasing SAREF – Reference frame in Southern Africa, R. Wonnacott (South Africa);

  • GNSS for Earth science, T. Herring (USA);

  • GNSS education and training in South Africa, C. Merry (South Africa).

UN/USA international meeting of experts on the use and applications of global navigation satellite systems, November 11–15, 2002, Vienna, Austria

Presentations are available at:http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/gnss/expert_meeting/presentations/index.html

Some selected topics

  • GALILEO-GPS interoperability, E. Ailio (European Commission);

  • Summary of recommendations from the regional workshops concerning GNSS Applications to the management of natural resources and the environment, E. Heine (Austria);

  • Overview and summary of UN regional GNSS workshop recommendations, R. Neilan (International GPS Service);

  • Use and applications of global navigation satellite systems: forum on education and training, F. Walter (Brazil).

Joint meeting of action team on global navigation satellite systems and global navigation satellite systems experts of UN/USA regional workshops and international meeting 2001–2002, December 8–12, 2003, Vienna, Austria

Information concerning this meeting is available at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SAP/gnss/joint2003.html. All the presentations are available. This link also contains information on follow-up actions to the recommendations made at the international meetings, as well as a pointer to the results of the work of the Action Team on GNSS established by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 2001.

As stated before, the selected topics listed above are just a sample of the topics available at the websites. For those aiming to explore all the subjects, just follow the links given above and have a very nice “GNSS navigation.”