1st Circular of the SIRGAS Symposium 2022

The next SIRGAS Symposium will be held in the city of Santiago de Chile, November 7-9, 2022, thanks to the invitation offered by the Instituto Geográfico Militar (IGM) of Chile, in celebration of its 100th anniversary. The geodetic community of the Americas and the Caribbean will gather during this event to formulate new projects and exchange experiences and progress related to the implementation, maintenance and use of the geodetic reference frame and infrastructure of the region. 

In addition, the Vertical Reference System Workshop will take place the week before the Symposium, November 2-4 2022, which will cover topics related to the unification of the vertical reference in the SIRGAS member states, as well as the guidelines and actions planned for the materialization of the IHRS (International Height Reference System). 

This edition of the SIRGAS Symposium and the Vertical Reference System Workshop is jointly organized with the Military Geographic Institute of Chile, and has the support of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH) and the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). 

The symposium has been planned as an in-person meeting at the facilities of the Military Geographic Institute of Chile. It will also be broadcast through the @SirgasAmericas YouTube channel including simultaneous English and Spanish translation.  

Although the SIRGAS Symposia are mainly attended by National Representatives, members of Working Groups and projects, these events are open to the entire international geodetic community and therefore we invite: 

• Regional organizations involved in the dissemination of geospatial information and Earth observations; 
• National institutions responsible for geodetic references definition; 
• Public and private agencies that use geodetic and geophysical information; 
• Universities and research centers focused on geodesy and geophysics; and 
• Researchers, professionals, technicians, and students whose activities and research are related to the SIRGAS goals. 

The activities of the SIRGAS 2022 Symposium will be organized in 5 sessions: 

November 07 - SIRGAS authorities report: SIRGAS President, SIRGAS Working Group Chairs and UN-GGIM GRFA update: Americas; 

November 07 - Development and maintenance of the SIRGAS reference frame: reports from the SIRGAS Analysis Center, review and update of processing and combination strategies, analysis and deformation modeling, processing of GNSS observations; 

November 08 - Modeling of the Earth's gravity field. Advances and activities necessary to support the development of the unified vertical reference system, models of the terrestrial gravity field, and absolute gravity measurements in SIRGAS member countries. 

November 09 - Applications of the SIRGAS reference network: reports from SIRGAS member states, advances in SIRGAS adoption, use and availability of SIRGAS products. 

November 09 - SIRGAS contributions to Earth System modeling: (geodynamic monitoring, atmospheric studies, determination of mean sea level changes, and geophysical studies based on SIRGAS infrastructure). 

Presentation abstracts should have a maximum of 2000 characters and should be submitted before August 31, 2022 using the following online form: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRcvOfIPzmHWX0e-EmhOs0LNTFkyDULgpJQxQa7n5Dc9hLvg/viewform). Abstracts must be framed in the aforementioned thematic axes and will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee and Executive Committee of SIRGAS. 

The presentation modalities areas follows: 

Oral expositions: 15 minutes presentation; and 
Posters: in pdf format, which must be available for download before the meeting, paired with a 3 minutes presentation. 

Thanks to the sponsorship of PAIGH and IAG, SIRGAS has a modest budget to cover partial costs for some presenters. The Scientific Council and the Executive Committee of SIRGAS will distribute available funds on the basis of presentations approved. However, sponsoring institutions will be required to cover remaining expenses (travel, accommodation or per diem) for participants. Those interested in requesting financial support should fill out the following form before June 30, 2022: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRcvOfIPzmHWX0e-EmhOs0LNTFkyDULgpJQxQa7n5Dc9hLvg/viewform. 

The SIRGAS 2022 Symposium is being organized by the Local Organizing Committee, composed of the SIRGAS Executive Committee and representatives of the Military Geographic Institute of Chile, who kindly provide the email sirgas2022@igm.cl for clarification of doubts. 

For more details, visit the event website https://sirgas.ipgh.org/simposio/ 

In person Vertical Reference System Workshop 

The Vertical Reference System Workshop will take place from November 2 to 4, 2022 jointly with the SIRGAS 2022 Symposium. The workshop will review the guidelines and actions required for the materialization of the IHRS (International Height Reference System) and topics related to the unification of the vertical references of the SIRGAS member states. 

This workshop has been framed around the Resolution "A Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development" adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, which encourages American countries and international organizations to strengthen global cooperation to promote capabilities in the field of geodesy, with the objective of ensuring the development, sustainability and promotion of a regional geodetic reference. 

The workshop's main goal is to contribute to the training process of researchers, professionals, and technicians from the Americas who participate in the definition and updating of national vertical reference frames based on gravimetric data processing and geometric leveling. Therefore, participants will be trained in the use of software packages developed by the International Association of Geodesy and SIRGAS, which will be distributed free of charge to those organizations that are dedicated to the materialization of national geodetic reference frames or contribute to the activities and research carried out within SIRGAS. 

The workshop will be held at the Military Geographic Institute of Chile (Santiago de Chile), and will be conducted in Spanish by Dr. Gabriel do Nascimento Guimarães (Federal University of Uberlândia) and Eng. Agri. Hernán Guagni (National Geographic Institute of Argentina). 

Those interested in participating in the workshop must complete the following pre-registration form by June 30: https://forms.gle/GjEYLy3YEhxGWYVb9  

Important Dates 

April 30, 2022 Registration opens. 

June 30, 2022 Deadline to apply for financial support. (*) , Deadline to apply for PRE-INSCRIPTION to Vertical Reference Systema Workshop. (**)  

July 31, 2022 Communication to the attendees accepted to the Vertical Reference System Workshop , Communication of approved financial support 

August 31, 2022 Deadline for submitting abstracts of papers to be presented (***) 

September 30, 2022 Communication of papers accepted for publication. 

October 10, 2022 Distribution of the detailed program of the Symposium  

Octubre 30, 2022 Deadline to register for the Symposium (****) 

* To apply for financial assistance, candidates must submit the abstract of their presentation through the FORM (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRcvOfIPzmHWX0e-EmhOs0LNTFkyDULgpJQxQa7n5Dc9hLvg/viewform), indicating that they need financial assistance. 

** To apply for pre-registration to SIRGAS SLR WORKSHOP, applicants must fill out and send the corresponding PRE-REGISTRATION FORM (https://forms.gle/GjEYLy3YEhxGWYVb9). 

***Abstracts of contributions must be sent via FORM (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRcvOfIPzmHWX0e-EmhOs0LNTFkyDULgpJQxQa7n5Dc9hLvg/viewform) 

**** The Symposium Registration form is available at (https://www.igm.cl/?page=inscripcion-asistentes)