Chairman: Riccardo Barzaghi, Italy
Director of Central Bureau: Georgios S. Vergos, Greece
The overall goal of IGFS is to coordinate the servicing of the geodetic and geophysical community with gravity field-related data, software and information.

Objectives

IGFS is a unified “umbrella” IAG service, which will

• Coordinate collection, validation, archiving and dissemination of gravity field related data
• Coordinate courses, information materials and general public outreach relating to the earth’s gravity field
• Unify gravity products for the needs of GGOS – the Global Geodetic Observing System

The IGFS coordinates the following “Level-1” IAG services and service centres

• IHRF CC (International Height Reference Frame Coordination Center), Thessaloniki, Greece
• BGI (Bureau Gravimetrique International), Toulouse, France
• ISG (International Service for the Geoid), Milano, Italy
• ICGEM (International Center for Global Earth Models), Potsdam, Germany
• COST-G (International Center for Global Earth Models), Bern, Switzerland
• IDEMS (International Digital Elevation Model Service), Leicester, UK
• ICET (International Center for Earth Tides), Faaa, Tahiti, French Polynesia
• Technical Support Centre of IGFS, NGA, Saint Louis, USA

The IGFS was established by the International Association of Geodesy Executive Board at the General Assembly in Sapporo, Japan, August 2003, and is an IAG “level-2” service under IAG Commission 2 – Gravity Field. One of the main arguments for establishing IGFS was to provide a more focussed role of the gravity field, as one of the three fundamental pillars in IAG’s first project – GGOS, the Global Geodetic Observing System.

The overall goal of IGFS is to coordinate the servicing of the geodetic and geophysical community with gravity field-related data, software and information. The combined data of the IGFS entities data will include both satellite-derived global models, terrestrial, airborne, satellite and marine gravity observations, earth tide data, GPS leveling data, digital models of terrain and bathymetry, as well as ocean gravity field and geoid from satellite altimetry. Both the static and the temporal variations of the gravity field will be covered by the IGFS.

IGFS will – in cooperation with the services – make a special effort in trying to secure release of data from national and international institutions holding data on the spatial and temporal gravity variations, geoid and the surface heights of the Earth, to make them widely available to the scientific community.

IGFS will coordinate regional conferences, tutorials and schools to train young scientists and members of national institutions in the various aspects of the gravity field science, computations, and data collection. IGFS will maintain a publication activity related to the gravity field, especially through “Newtons Bulletin”.