Dear colleagues,

Before the “Working group on Combination” will meet on Wednesday, 
April 27, 2005, please let me make some general remarks.

The IERS ToR states:
“Working Groups may be established by the DB to investigate particular 
topics related to the IERS components. Working groups are limited to 
a term of two years with a possible one-time re-appointment.”

From the beginning it was intended that a working group will not last 
forever. Within its lifetime the working group should come to 
conclusions or better to results which will be presented to the IERS DB 
by the chair of the working group. The chair is the representative of 
the WG but finally also one of the members of the group. All group members 
agreed to contributed to its work. Reports and proposals from the 
working group will be discussed and decided by the IERS DB.

The chair of the Working group on Combination in cooperation with the 
working group members launched a call which was responded by 
17 groups – institutions and IAG technique services. 
The proposals comprise the contributions of the participants to the 
4 components of combination 
(http://www.iers.org/iers/about/wg/wg3/docs/Proposals-CPP.pdf). It is 
the general understanding that the individual groups at least tried 
to get results as promised in their proposals.

After one year of existence it might be appropriate to review 
intermediate results achieved by the individual institutions of 
the WG and to reconsider the goals. The discussion should be pragmatic 
and based on sound insights not only to improve the quality of present 
IERS products but also to open the door for future products users are 
interested in.

With best regards
Yours
Bernd Richter

____________________________________
Dr. Bernd Richter
Director of IERS Central Bureau

Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie
Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy
Richard-Strauss-Allee 11
D-60598 Frankfurt am Main
Internet: http://www.iers.org

E-Mail: richter@iers.org
Tel: # 49-69-6333-273
Fax: # 49-69-6333-425