Recommendation 1 of the 98th CIPM (2009)

Concerning adoption of a common terrestrial reference system by the CGPM

The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM),

considering that

• there already exist a number of global satellite navigation systems (GNSS), that new ones are being created and in the future there may be many more;
• the proliferation of time and geodesy reference systems in use in these navigation systems creates ambiguities for users with regard to the interpretation of navigation and timing solutions and renders interoperability between the systems more difficult;
• although the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) is recommended by relevant scientific unions, it has not yet been adopted by an intergovernmental organization;
• the adoption of a common reference system by the appropriate intergovernmental organization would be beneficial to users regarding unification of navigation and timing solutions and systems interoperability;

noting that

one of the key factors that led to the creation of the Metre Convention and the BIPM was the recommendation of the Second International Conference on Geodesy for the Measurement of Degrees in Europe, held in Berlin in 1867, that a European International Bureau of Weights and Measures be set up in order to unify European geodesy standards;

recommends that

the necessary steps be taken such that the ITRS, as defined by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and realized by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) and International GNSS Service (IGS), be adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures as the international standard for terrestrial reference frames used for all metrological applications.

DOI : 10.59161/CIPM2009REC1E