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Geodetic reference and national timing

Coordinates and time a whole country can trust.

Every survey, map, cadastre, construction project and timed network in a country relies on the national reference frame and national time. Reference stations must be stable for decades, run continuously and tie to the global frame. The network is built and run for that.

Plan a deploymentHow it worksStation Builder
Industry
Government
Measurements
5
Sources cited
4
  1. Government · Geodetic reference and national timing

    Every map starts from here

    Surveys, maps, cadastres, construction, farming guidance and timed networks all rely on the national reference frame and national time. Reference stations define that frame and must stay stable and continuous for decades. Countries are asked to sustain the global frame, and a national network built for it serves every user.

  2. What is measured

    Signals, weather and time

    Geodetic receivers on stable monuments track every satellite signal each second. A meteorological sensor beside each antenna supports atmospheric delay modelling, and timing receivers compare national time with satellite time. Every antenna, receiver and height is recorded in the station log.

    Instruments
    Geodetic receivers · Timing receivers · Station meteorology
  3. The base node

    Clocks held at the station

    The node streams observations, writes daily archive files and watches signal quality for interference. When satellite time is lost, it holds time from its reference and reports how far it may have drifted, so networks that depend on it know what to trust.

  4. Radio and links

    Two paths for every stream

    Stations at agency buildings and towers stream over fibre to the positioning service. Cellular is a second, independent path, so corrections continue when the fibre is cut. Daily files and logs reach international services, and time reaches operators through the national time service.

    Links
    Fibre · Public cellular
  5. How it works

    From a satellite signal to a survey

    A surveyor sets up on a building site. The nearest reference stations stream their observations, the positioning service computes corrections, and the surveyor’s receiver fixes its position in the national frame within seconds, consistent with every other survey in the country and with the global frame.

  6. From order to operation · Order

    Scope the frame and its users

    The scope reads the existing reference stations, the national frame and its tie to the global frame, the positioning services and their users, and the time service. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan, the processing and archive design, timing outputs and a price per station and per year.

    Plan a deployment
  7. From order to operation · Survey

    Survey for stability

    Crews and geodesists visit candidate sites for stable ground or buildings, a clear sky view, low multipath, no interference sources, power and two backhaul paths. Each candidate is tested with a temporary receiver before a monument is chosen. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built.

  8. From order to operation · Permits

    Land and radio

    Agreements for long-term land or roof use are signed with owners, radio spectrum for any correction broadcasts is licensed, and building owners approve antenna masts. Every agreement is kept with the station record, because reference stations must stay put for decades.

  9. From order to operation · Build

    Build monuments and kits

    Monuments are designed for the ground at each site; receivers, antennas, meteorological sensors and nodes are tested together, enrolled with their identities and logged with serial numbers so every later change can be recorded in the station log. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together.

    Open the Station Builder
  10. From order to operation · Install

    Install the monument and antenna

    Crews build the monument, mount the antenna with its orientation and height measured, install the receiver, meteorological sensor and node in the shelter, and connect both backhaul paths. Every measurement goes into the station log in the international format. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work.

  11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission against the frame

    Each node proves its identity. Weeks of observations are processed to fix the station’s coordinates in the national and global frames, streams are tested with the positioning service, and the timing output is compared with the national time reference. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover.

  12. From order to operation · Operate

    Hold the frame

    The agency sees every station streaming, daily solutions, signal quality and interference events. Surveyors and builders receive real-time corrections, networks receive time, and the frame is updated as the global frame is, with every station’s motion known. Every alert and action is kept on the record.

  13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Log every change

    Receivers and antennas are changed only with a log entry and overlapping observations, monuments are inspected, software updates roll out in rings, and interference is reported to the spectrum regulator. The station logs keep the time series usable for decades.

    Book field services
  14. Data products

    For surveyors, geodesists and networks

    Surveyors, builders and farmers receive real-time corrections; geodesists and mapping agencies receive coordinates and velocities; researchers and international services receive daily archives; network operators receive time traceable to UTC; spectrum regulators receive interference reports, each tied to its station and time.

    See the data products
  15. Evidence

    A frame that lasts decades

    Stations follow the international site guidelines, coordinates are computed in frames defined by the international conventions, the network supports the UN resolution on the global geodetic reference frame and time is traceable to UTC. Every change is logged, so the series stays usable for decades.

    Drawn against
    IGS Site Guidelines · IERS Conventions (IERS Technical Note 36) · UN General Assembly resolution 69/266 · ITU-R TF.460
  16. What you get

    Timing and positioning integrity

    PTP grandmasters with GNSS holdover, interference detection and timing monitoring for networks and instruments. Delivered as hardware + software and managed service, for carriers, utilities, financial infrastructure, observatories. Scale: National timing fabrics. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales
  17. Next step

    Plan geodetic reference and national timing with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for geodetic reference and national timing. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextNational mapping and geodetic agencies run continuously operating reference stations that define the national frame, support positioning services and tie the country to the global geodetic reference frame. Countries are asked to sustain that frame, stations follow international site guidelines, and national time services hold their clocks to Coordinated Universal Time.

Hazards

  • Monuments that move with the ground they stand on
  • Receivers and antennas changed without records, breaking time series
  • Interference and jamming of satellite signals
  • Outages that interrupt positioning services
  • Clocks that drift when satellite time is lost

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

MeasurementWhereCadenceSources
Continuous GNSS observationsReference stations on stable monumentsEvery second, archived in daily files12
Station coordinates and velocitiesEvery station in the national frameDaily solutions, frame updates as published32
Local meteorology for delay modellingBeside each reference antennaEvery minute1
Time offset to UTCNational time references and timing outputsContinuous4
Signal quality and interferenceEach receiverContinuous, events when it degrades1

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

  1. 01

    Base unit

    A reference station: a geodetic receiver and antenna on a stable monument, a meteorological sensor and a node.

    Build a station →
  2. 02

    Site

    A site: the monument, the receiver in a shelter, power with backup and two independent backhaul links.

    Plan a site →
  3. 03

    Fleet

    The national reference network processed as one frame, with one register of every antenna and receiver change.

    Managed offers →
  4. 04

    Network

    National frames tie to the global reference frame, and time references to UTC, through open international services.

    The open protocol →
  • 01GNSS geodetic station
  • 02GNSS reference station (RTK)
  • 03Automatic weather station (WMO class)
  • 04Sensor and instrument gateway
  • 05Edge node (Wedge)
  • 06Fibre terminal
  • 07Cellular modem/router
  • 08Shelter

Radio and links

Fibre

Stations at agency buildings and towers use fibre for real-time streams to positioning services.

Radio and links

Public cellular

Cellular is the second path, so streams continue when the fibre is cut.

Edge computeThe node streams observations to the positioning service, writes the daily archive files, watches signal quality and interference, and holds time from the reference when satellite time is lost.

PowerMains with a battery that rides through outages so the time series has no gaps; remote stations run on solar with enough storage for the darkest weeks.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

Geodetic reference and national timing: data path

– of 07

01 Instruments Measurement with sensor identity andcalibration 02 Gateway 03 Node – Wrap in an observation envelope with timequality– Measure quality and uncertainty, attachquality flags– Buffer locally (store-and-forward when thelink drops) 04 Backhaul Commit with transactional outbox andpublish, delivered at least once 05 Site Consumer inbox deduplicates and applieseach record once into governed data 06 Data store Governed product through API, map orexport, correction-aware 07 Products RTCMRINEXNTP with NTS 08 Power and structure 01 GNSS geodetic station Ethernet · GNSS antenna · 1PPS/10MHz 02 GNSS reference station (RTK) Ethernet · GNSS antenna · RS-232 ·1PPS/10 MHz 03 Automatic weather station (WMOclass) SDI-12 · RS-485 · Ethernet 04 Sensor and instrument gateway SDI-12 · RS-485 · Analogue I/O ·Ethernet · USB 05 Edge node (Wedge) Ethernet · Fibre · USB · RS-485 ·BMC 06 Fibre terminal Fibre · Ethernet 07 Cellular modem/router Ethernet · USB · RS-232 Site MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B Governed data store Versioned, correction-aware Real-time positioningcorrections Station coordinates andvelocities Daily observation archives Time traceable to UTC Interference reports 08 Shelter Ethernet · ntp-nts Ethernet · ntp-nts RS-485 · Modbus Ethernet · MQTT 5 Ethernet Ethernet Fibre LTE/NR
From the instrument to the published product: each band is a tier, each connector names its interface, and the numbers match the bill of materials. Hover or focus a block to trace its path; scroll or step to follow one observation.
Bill of materials
ItemEquipmentData portsProtocolsPower in
01GNSS geodetic stationContinuously operating GNSS station on a stable monument for geodesy, deformation and atmospheric water vapour.EthernetGNSS antenna1PPS/10 MHzNTP with NTS12 V DC
02GNSS reference station (RTK)Multi-constellation GNSS base station that streams corrections for real-time kinematic positioning.EthernetGNSS antennaRS-2321PPS/10 MHzNMEA 0183, NTP with NTS12 V DC
03Automatic weather station (WMO class)Automatic weather station built and sited to WMO-No. 8 instrument and siting classes, reporting WIGOS metadata.SDI-12RS-485EthernetSDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API12 V DC
04Sensor and instrument gatewayData logger and gateway that reads instruments on SDI-12, RS-485, analogue and Ethernet ports and publishes observations with calibration and time.SDI-12RS-485Analogue I/OEthernetUSBSDI-12, Modbus, MQTT 5, OGC SensorThings API, OGC API Connected Systems, OMA LwM2M12 V DC, PoE
05Edge node (Wedge)Rugged edge node that boots from signed media, attests itself and establishes a site cell from little or no infrastructure.EthernetFibreUSBRS-485BMCMQTT 5, DMTF Redfish, IEEE 1588 PTP, NTP with NTS, OPC UA12 V DC, 24 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains
06Fibre terminalOptical network terminal or media converter that lands fibre backhaul at a site.FibreEthernetIEEE 1588 PTP12 V DC, 48 V DC, AC mains
07Cellular modem/routerLTE or NR modem or router that uses a public carrier or private network as backhaul.EthernetUSBRS-2323GPP E-UTRA air interface, 3GPP NR air interface, OMA LwM2M12 V DC, PoE
08ShelterWalk-in shelter or container with HVAC, fire detection and power distribution.———

How it scales

01 Instruments Arbitrary qualified sensors and instruments whosemeasurements are ingested with calibration, units,geometry, time, custody and uncertainty. ×n 02 Node The minimum useful deployable unit: server, ruggedappliance, radio node, sensor gateway, satelliteterminal, AI, scientific, vehicle or virtual node. Node Node agent 03 Site The minimum independently operable localgovernance and failure domain: one or more nodesplus local network, identity, policy, evidence,storage, products and operator surfaces.

SITE

Node Node Node ×n 04 Cluster An optional scale or specialisation domain forscheduling, shared storage, accelerators or datalocality.

CLUSTER

×n 05 Fleet Coordinates plans, acknowledgements,convergence evidence, update campaigns andcorrection propagation across nodes and sites.

FLEET

Fleet controller ×n 06 Federation An exchange of products, capabilities, events orwork across approved, independently administeredtrust domains, using explicit trust, policy,data-locality, version and correction contracts.

TRUST DOMAIN

TRUST DOMAIN

TRUST DOMAIN

×n Verifier Applications Data in the field Telemetry Control Data upstream Control Data upstream Control Exchange Evidence Events Exchange
The smallest deployable unit is one node; the same unit is replicated to meet the demand. Nodes form a site, sites may form a cluster, sites and clusters are coordinated as a fleet, and fleets exchange across independently administered trust domains. Each plane is a separate channel with its own open binding.
Data in the field
MQTT 5 with Sparkplug B; connectors for LoRaWAN, OPC UA and instrument buses.
Telemetry
OpenTelemetry OTLP.
Control
TLS 1.3 with mutual authentication; protobuf messages over gRPC or HTTP/2.
Data upstream
At-least-once publication with repeat-safe keys over the control channel or NATS JetStream; QUIC MAY be used on lossy links.
Evidence
DSSE-signed in-toto statements; SLSA provenance; SCITT transparency receipts.
Events
Event envelopes mapped to CloudEvents 1.0; channels described in AsyncAPI 3.
Exchange
OpenAPI 3.1; the OGC API family; SensorThings; STAC; WIS 2.0.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

  1. 01 Order

    Scope the frame and its users

    The scope reads the existing reference stations, the national frame and its tie to the global frame, the positioning services and their users, and the time service. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a station plan, the processing and archive design, timing outputs and a price per station and per year. 3

  2. 02 Survey

    Survey for stability

    Crews and geodesists visit candidate sites for stable ground or buildings, a clear sky view, low multipath, no interference sources, power and two backhaul paths. Each candidate is tested with a temporary receiver before a monument is chosen. Findings shape the kit for each site before anything is built. 1

  3. 03 Permits

    Land and radio

    Agreements for long-term land or roof use are signed with owners, radio spectrum for any correction broadcasts is licensed, and building owners approve antenna masts. Every agreement is kept with the station record, because reference stations must stay put for decades.

  4. 04 Build

    Build monuments and kits

    Monuments are designed for the ground at each site; receivers, antennas, meteorological sensors and nodes are tested together, enrolled with their identities and logged with serial numbers so every later change can be recorded in the station log. Nothing ships until the whole kit has passed its tests together.

  5. 05 Install

    Install the monument and antenna

    Crews build the monument, mount the antenna with its orientation and height measured, install the receiver, meteorological sensor and node in the shelter, and connect both backhaul paths. Every measurement goes into the station log in the international format. Crews follow the site safety plan throughout the work. 1

  6. 06 Commission

    Commission against the frame

    Each node proves its identity. Weeks of observations are processed to fix the station’s coordinates in the national and global frames, streams are tested with the positioning service, and the timing output is compared with the national time reference. Acceptance is recorded with the owner before handover. 24

  7. 07 Operate

    Hold the frame

    The agency sees every station streaming, daily solutions, signal quality and interference events. Surveyors and builders receive real-time corrections, networks receive time, and the frame is updated as the global frame is, with every station’s motion known. Every alert and action is kept on the record. 3

  8. 08 Maintain

    Log every change

    Receivers and antennas are changed only with a log entry and overlapping observations, monuments are inspected, software updates roll out in rings, and interference is reported to the spectrum regulator. The station logs keep the time series usable for decades. 1

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

  • Real-time positioning correctionsSurveyors, builders and farmers
  • Station coordinates and velocitiesGeodesists and mapping agencies
  • Daily observation archivesResearchers and international services
  • Time traceable to UTCNetwork operators and timing users
  • Interference reportsSpectrum regulators

Integration

  • Positioning serviceStreams feed the agency’s own real-time correction service.
  • International archivesDaily files and station logs are shared with international geodetic services in their formats.
  • Timing usersTime outputs reach operators through the national time service.

Exchanged through RTCM, RINEX, NTP with NTS.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Will the stations change our frame?

No. They are tied to the national frame and updated only when the agency decides.

Can receivers be replaced later?

Yes, with log entries and overlapping observations so the series stays continuous.

Do you detect jamming?

Each receiver reports signal quality and interference events.

Who owns the data?

The agency. Sharing follows its own policy.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

  1. 1IGS Site GuidelinesInternational GNSS Service
  2. 2IERS Conventions (IERS Technical Note 36)International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service
  3. 3UN General Assembly resolution 69/266: A global geodetic reference frame for sustainable developmentUnited Nations · 2015
  4. 4ITU-R TF.460: Standard-frequency and time-signal emissionsInternational Telecommunication Union

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

Use case

Displacement-site connectivity and sensing

Point-to-multipoint wireless with satellite backhaul, solar power and community Wi-Fi, plus water and flood sensing with explicit protection safeguards.The full use case →
Solution

Timing and positioning integrity

PTP grandmasters with GNSS holdover, interference detection and timing monitoring for networks and instruments.Solutions for government →
Solution

National observing network programmes

Build-operate-transfer of national observing infrastructure as digital public infrastructure, with transfer of skills and records.Solutions for government →
Solution

Observation data products and evidence bundles

Licensed feeds and archives with metadata, quality flags and provenance on every value; evidence bundles for audits and claims processes.Solutions for government →

10Government: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Specialized field

National weather and hydrology networks

Automatic weather stations, rain gauges and river gauges run as one national network, sited, calibrated and reported to WMO rules so every ministry and neighbour can use the data.The full field →
Specialized field

Upper-air soundings

Radiosonde stations that launch soundings on schedule, with ground receivers, gas handling and data checks run as part of the national observing programme.The full field →
Specialized field

Environmental radiation monitoring

Gamma dose-rate stations across the country, reporting continuously to the national authority and its neighbours so that a release anywhere is seen at once.The full field →
Specialized field

Space weather monitoring

Magnetometers and ionospheric receivers that measure geomagnetic storms and their effects on power grids, satellite navigation and radio, feeding national space weather services.The full field →

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.

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