The RBMC, Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems, now (March 2014) comprises 101 stations as a result of the inclusion of five new facilities, settled in Araquari and Florianópolis/SC (SCAQ and SCFL), Bacabal/MA (MABB), Sobral/CE (CESB) and in Afogados da Ingazeira/PE (PEAF).

Each RBMC station is equipped with a GNSS receiver (Global Navigation Satellite Systems - GPS + GLONASS), connected to an Internet link, through which data are made available for free in the IBGE website.

With the information provided by RBMC, centimeter-level accuracy (latitude, longitude and height) can be obtained - differently from what ordinary mobile devices can do. Such a precision is needed for the various professional applications and activities carried out in different areas, for example, in engineering, in air and marine navigation, in rural and urban registries, in precision farming, among others. Therefore, the network, in operation since 1996, has become a crucial tool in the development of the geotechnologies in Brazil.

For further information on RBMC, see

https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/geociencias/geodesia/rbmc/rbmc.shtm?c=7

Despite the fact that RBMC was born in IBGE, today it represents a joint venture encompassing dozens of public institutions all over the country, which contribute with some of the infrastructure used to run the stations. Among these institutions, the highlights are INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) and, more recently, INPE (National institute for Space Research), which uses RBMC data, for instance, in the Program of Brazilian Space Weather Study and Monitoring (EMBRACE), in the Integrated Positioning System for Geodynamic Studies (SIPEG) and in the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC), in the estimation of the weather forecast models.

RBMC also contributes to the activities of international projects such as the Geocentric Reference System for the Americas (SIRGAS), which conducts geodynamic studies of the South-American plate using the time series of the coordinates obtained through the GNSS stations.

Out of the 101 stations that nowadays integrate RBMC, 63 run in real time, and the others, in post-processing. All Brazilian capitals are served at least by one network station. In all of them, data are made available in real time and for post-processing.

Data collection and dissemination are automatic processes, which makes daily files for post-processing to be released in the early hours of the next day. More than 40 thousand downloads are made monthly in the IBGE website and more than 4.000 users have already signed up for real-time access.

Despite the significant number of stations, RBMC still needs to be improved in the North and Central-West Regions of Brazil, where a better coverage of important areas is required.