IBGE, in partnership with the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) has inaugurated 11 new stations of the Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems ...

IBGE, in partnership with the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) has inaugurated 11 new stations of the Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems ( a location system currently formed by the American Global Positioning System, popularly known as GPS  and by the Russian system, GLONASS). The new stations are located in Barreiras (BA), Fortaleza (CE), Balsas (MA), Altamira (PA), Itaituba (PA), Colorado d’Oeste (RO), Rio Paranaíba (MG), Varginha (MG), Araçatuba (SP), Campinas (SP) and Ubatuba (SP).

The Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems (RBMC) is the most precise reference structure in the country (the GNSS system can provide centimeter-accurate location data). It is used both in major engineering services (construction of roads and dams, for example) and in the demarcation of land (of Indians or Quilombolas, of environmental protection, etc). Besides, it daily collects information which allows the calculation of coordinates (longitudinal and latitudinal ones) from several points all over the national territory. When an earthquake struck Chile a few months ago, for example, it was possible to determine, by means of similar stations spread in South-American countries, the movement of some points on the globe.

Having been implemented in December 1996, the Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems was the first one to be started in America; it has 80 stations currently and three others are being tested - in Juína (MT), Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade (MT) and Santarém (PA) – for the expected  incorporation to RBMC. The system expansion and update was accelerated in 2007, when there were 24 stations.

The new equipment installed allows operating facilities and ensure the supply of new services besides collecting geodetic information which can be used by the Brazilian scientific community. RBMC is still the direct connection between the Geodetic Brazilian System (SGB) and similar international networks. With the growing use of positioning techniques based on Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS), its role in the determination of land occupation becomes more important each day.

The data and reports of all stations are available on the IBGE web site, at a click on the link www.ibge.gov.br/home/geociencias/download/tela_inicial.php?tipo=8; and also on the FTP server at ftp://geoftp.ibge.gov.br/RBMC/.

All the information is organized into reports which refer to the previous day and are centimeter-accurate, with a time interval of 15 seconds.

Figure 1 – Distribution of RBMC Stations (April 2010)