The International Geodynamics and Earth Tide Service (IGETS) was established in 2015 by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). IGETS continues the activities of the Global Geodynamics Project (GGP, 1997-2015) to provide support to geodetic and geophysical research activities using superconducting gravimeter (SG) data within the context of an international network.
In April 2015 the Transportable Integrated Geodetic Observatory (TIGO) was moved from Concepción/Chile to La Plata/Argentina (longitude: 58.14 W, latitude: 34.87 S, height above MSL: 25 m) and is jointly operated by the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) and the Argentinian National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) as Argentinian-German Geodetic Observatory (AGGO). The superconducting gravimeter SG038 was transported 3100 km overland by truck with the sphere floating. AGGO is located near the Rio de la Plata, formed by the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers and is one of the world’s largest estuaries.
Since December 2015, an almost uninterrupted time series of gravity and barometric pressure variations is acquired with SG038. The gravity laboratory is a solid building and equipped with four stable pillars of concrete in one room, founded 5 meters deep. One pillar is used for the SG while the others are available for absolute gravimeters. The site will thus serve as a reference station and comparison site for absolute gravimeters. The site is thermally stabilized by air-conditioning systems.
To assess the gravity effects caused by local water storage variations in the groundwater and vadose zone, a hydrological monitoring network was set up in close cooperation with GFZ Potsdam near to the gravimeter building, consisting of a weather station (precipitation, air temperature, air humidity, wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, net radiation), soil moisture sensors, vertical soil moisture profiles to record water storage changes close to the gravimeter and two groundwater observation wells.