Regional

Reference Frame In physics and astronomy, a frame of reference (or reference frame) is an abstract coordinate system whose origin (mathematics), origin, orientation (geometry), orientation, and scale (geometry), scale are specified by a set of reference point ...

Sub-Commission for

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(EUREF) is the sub-commission of the

International Association of Geodesy ) , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , extinction = , merger = , type = scholarly society , tax_id ...

(IAG), part of the Sub-Commission 1.3 (''Regional

s''), under IAG Commission 1 (''

s''). EUREF deals with the definition, realization and maintenance of the European Geodetic Reference Frame. The goal of EUREF is to establish a unified geodetic datum (

ETRS89 The European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 (ETRS89) is an ECEF (Earth-Centered, Earth-Fixed) geodetic Cartesian reference frame, in which the Eurasian Plate as a whole is static. The coordinates and maps in Europe based on ETRS89 are not sub ...

) and a consistent network of reference stations ( EPN) throughout

. EUREF was founded in 1987 at the

IUGG The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG; french: Union géodésique et géophysique internationale, UGGI) is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the scientific study of Earth and its space environment usi ...

General Assembly held in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Mission

EUREF is driven by a voluntary agreement of scientific organisations and national geodetic/geographic agencies of the member countries, who are willing to replace their legacy national geodetic datums with a unified European Reference Frame and join their national networks of reference stations into a common European network. The mandate of EUREF is to foster and coordinate the activities of the member countries, which are financed and managed on the national level. EUREF realizes and maintains

, the European

geodetic datum A geodetic datum or geodetic system (also: geodetic reference datum, geodetic reference system, or geodetic reference frame) is a global datum reference or reference frame for precisely representing the position of locations on Earth or other plan ...

, which is to become a single datum used for geodetic applications in all the member countries. A key instrument in maintaining

is the EUREF Permanent Network (EPN), a network of reference stations which covers the European continent. EUREF is also working on the European Vertical Reference System (EVRS), which goal is to determine a unified dm-level accurate

geoid The geoid () is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is extended ...

model and gravity-referenced height system throughout

. EUREF coordinates its activities with EuroGeographics.

Structure

The activities of EUREF are discussed and decisions are taken at the annual

symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

. The last symposia have been attended by more than 120 participants coming from about 30 member countries of

. The results of EUREF are available in the symposia

proceedings In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confere ...

, which contain the presented scientific papers as well as national reports, resolutions and documentation. Current activities are led by the Governing Board (GB), formerly Technical Working Group (TWG), which is elected at the symposia and is meeting three times a year to manage current activities. The minutes of the GB meetings are published online together with the symposia proceedings.

European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 (ETRS89)

is a Cartesian

ECEF The Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system (acronym ECEF), also known as the geocentric coordinate system, is a cartesian spatial reference system that represents locations in the vicinity of the Earth (including its surface, interior, ...

, in which

Eurasian Plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...

as a whole is static. Within

coordinate In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is sign ...

s and

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s based on

are stable because temporal variations due to the

continental drift Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The idea of continental drift has been subsumed into the science of pla ...

are minimized.

coincided with the global ITRS datum in 1989, hence the name.

and ITRS diverge due to the

at a speed about 2.5 cm per year.

European Vertical Reference System (EVRS)

EVRS is a zero-tidal gravity-related height reference system. It is realized by the geopotential numbers and normal heights of the United European Leveling Network (UELN). EVRS heights are computed in certain intervals from the latest measurements of the UELN participating countries. So far, three realizations of EVRS have been published: EVRF2000, EVRF2007 and EVRF2019."EVRS"
Web page Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie. Accessed May 2020"

Projects

There are several projects under development at EUREF. *'' EUREF Permanent Network (EPN)'' is the main project of EUREF and a backbone in the maintenance of the

European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 The European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 (ETRS89) is an ECEF (Earth-Centered, Earth-Fixed) geodetic Cartesian reference frame, in which the Eurasian Plate as a whole is static. The coordinates and maps in Europe based on ETRS89 are not su ...

. *'' European Combined Geodetic Network (ECGN)'' is a research project aimed at high accuracy geoid determination. *''EUVN Densification Action'' studies discrepancies between EUVN (European United Vertical Network) and the gravimetric geoid. *''Unified European Levelling Network (UELN)'' manages the development of the European levelling network. *''ETRS89 velocity field model'' studies residual local movements of the

relative to

References

{{Reflist

External links

EUREF home page
Geodesy organizations Pan-European scientific organizations