Radio telescope dimensions for geodetic and astrometric VLBI thermal expansion modelling

Description

The dataset contains the dimensions of structural parts of radio telescopes used for geodetic and astrometric VLBI for the purpose of thermal expansion modelling in geodetic and astrometric VLBI Level-2 data analysis. New version as of 2025-09-17.

Changes

• SEJONG axis offset updated
• Entries added for site names existing in the gsfc_itrf2020_v2020Apr14.axo
  even though they may have been used only for experimental purposes: ALASKANO, HARTDBBC, LEFTKOK, NOTDBBC, NOTOVDIF, NOTOX, NYALDBBC, ONSALAAN, ONSAVDIF, WETTVDIF,  WIDE85_3, YEBESDBC (always entered below common name). N.B.: Axis offsets corrected by taking them over from telescopes with common names.

Context and methodology

• The dataset  belongs to publication: Axel Nothnagel (2009) Conventions on thermal expansion modelling of radio telescopes for geodetic and astrometric VLBI; Journal of Geodesy, Vol. 83(3), 787-792, DOI: 10.1007/s00190-008-0284-z, where the general concept of thermal expansion modelling is described.
• The data was collected from on-site personnel who measured the dimensions of the structural parts or extracted them from construction drawings.

Technical details

• The data is stored in fixed format ASCII, with the data of each telescope in a single line. The format is described in the header of the file. 
• No special software is needed to read and use the data.