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ILRS Data Formats and Procedures Standing Committee (DFPSC) Activities

Below is of list of meetings, activities, decisions and actions:

Meetings:



History of Activities:

  • Ratified membership and charter in January 1999.
  • Developed list of 23 tasks/issues (February - March 1999).
  • On-going collaboration with Central Bureau to identify non-compliances (e.g., bin size, format, data delivery, etc.). Data centers should no longer check the checksum in ILRS NP files. Checksums should be eliminated.
  • Conducted first meeting at the Hague on Tuesday, 20 April 1999 from 20:15 to 22:30.
  • The official names for the station primary data products (ILRS NP and ILRS FR) were adopted.
  • Revised the ILRS FR data format (formerly MERIT II).
  • Documented the COSPAR ID to the ILRS Satellite 7-digit ID conversion algorithm.
  • In April 1999, spawned several sub-teams (the Tiger - "Centre-of-Mass and Signal Processing" [Charter, Members, Activities, Preliminary Results], the Lion - "Rapid LEO Predictions", and the Jaguar - "Minimum Returns/Normal Point" Team) to address specific issues.
  • Conducted second meeting in Florence on Tuesday, 21 September 1999
  • In September 1999, the Jaguar team reached their conclusion ("That the ILRS makes NO RESTRICTION on the minimum number of returns used to generate Normal Points.") and was disbanded. Two members (Vladimir Glotov and Roland Schmidt) were added.
  • Table of Prediction Centers, their acroymns and contacts are on-line.
  • Table of SOD and DOMES designators and their procedures are on-line (Site Occupancy Designators procedure, DOMES procedure).
  • Weekly status monitoring procedure implemented.
  • Daily IRV generation and distribution implemented.
  • The drag function format and algorithm are on-line.
  • NASA/ATSC agreed to publish their Y2K benchmark report on the ILRS Web Site. Other Y2K Web Sites were hyperlinked to provide additional information.
  • Conducted third meeting in Nice on 25 April 2000.
  • Collaborated with the Networks and Engineering WG to design and establish a comprehensive directory of site information. The reporting mechanism of this information must be reliable and up-to-date.
  • Charter of this Working Groop extends only to data submitted to the Data Centers.
  • Refraction Study Group spawned.


Decisions:

Notification of Maneuvers Procedure

  • The maneuver/manoeuver message format was finalized at the April 2000 meeting. The satellite maneuvers strawman procedure is based on the D-PAF ERS maneuver message and is available from the ILRS Web Site at Maneuver Notification Procedure.
  • The appropriate prediction center will advise the ILRS stations accordingly of these maneuvers.

Data Transmission Procedures

  • The file naming conventions, recipient addresses (email, ftp), delivery schedules, and transmitted file structures (e.g., all passes/day in one file, sequence constraints) currently in satisfactory use will be documented by the Data and Operational Centers and posted on the ILRS Web Site.

Standard Software Packages

  • The CB will publish any new and existing data processing algorithms along with source code written in the most-used languages for the most used platforms.
  • No specific cases were decreed. Examples might include a "SANITY CHECK" program to operate on ILRS NPs after they have been generated, or skewness and kurtosis calculations.
  • Expect the Signal Processing Team to produce standard packages as and when appropriate,

Prediction Exploder 2000

  • Standard SUBJECT line agreed.
  • Same sets and distribution lists to be held by all prediction centers.
  • HTSI will be prime distributor, EDC first backup to check regularly on HTSI distribution.
  • Tentative agreement on separate message per IRV set per satellite.
  • Implementation data 1 June 2000.