John M Gipson

(CHIEF SCIENTIST)

john.m.gipson@nasa.gov

301.614.6876

Org Code: 61A

NASA/GSFC
Mail Code: 61A.1
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Employer: NVI INC

Brief Bio

John Gipson recieved his PhD in theoretical particle physics from Yale University in 1982. He worked at Virginia Tech as post-doc and Assistant Professor from 1982-1984.

From 1985 through 1991 he worked at Interferometrics, Inc as a Senior Scienist. He developed a technique to make holographic measurements of satellite dishes using radio waves. He also developed a technique using interferometry to determine the location of ground based transmitters causing interference with communicatino satellites and was awarded a patent for the system. This system is still in use.

He has been involved periodically with the Goddard VLBI group since 1986, and in 1990 became a permanent member of the group. Since 2002 he has been the senior contractor on the support contract that provides VLBI analysis operations support to NASA. Within VLBI he has a special interest in analysis.

Education

1982 Ph D Theoretical Physics, Yale University

1977 MS Physics, Yale University

Positions/Employment

President & Project Manager

NVI, Inc - Greenbelt, MD

October 2002 - Present

President of NVI, Inc and Project Manager of VLBI support contract.

Senior Scientist

NVI, Inc - Greenbelt, MD

October 1991 - October 2002

Senior Scientist on the NVI VLBI support contract. In charge of analysis.

Senior Scientist

Interferometrics,Inc - Vienna, VA

1984 - October 1991

Research and development position. 1.)Developed a system for doing microwave holography on antennas. 2) Developed a system to use interferometry to determine the location of ground based transmitters causing interference with communications satellites; 3) Developed a system for locating lighning strikes using interferometry. Items 2 and 3 received a patent.

Post-Doc/Assistant Professor

Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, VA

August 1982 - December 1984

Post-doc and Assistant Professor in Physics department.

Professional Service

IVS Analysys Coordinator. In charge of ensuring the quality and timeliness of IVS products, ans serving as a liason to other techniques.

IVS Directing Board. The IVS Analysis Coordinator is in permanent member of the Directing Board.

IVS Working Group 4 on VLBI Data Structures,Chair. This working group was tasked with coming up with a data structure and format that would handle current and future VLBI data. The working group designed and tested the vgosDB format which is now the default for geodetic VLBI data.

IVS Working Group 7 on Satellite Observations.

IVS Working Group 8 on Galactic Aberration. The rotation of the solare system about the galactic center leads to an apparent change in the position of VLBI sources. This effect is called Galactic Aberration, and this working group was set up to make recommendatins on how to model and incorporate this effect in VLBI.

IERS Working Group (chair) on sub-diurnal Earth Orienation Parametger Variation. This working group was established to make recommendations about which EOP model to use in geodetic analysis. It includes representatives of all the techniques.

Publications

Refereed

Behrend, D., C. C. Thomas, J. M. Gipson, E. Himwich, and K. Le Bail. 2020. On the organization of CONT17 Journal of Geodesy 94 (10): [10.1007/s00190-020-01436-x]

Baver, K. D., and J. M. Gipson. 2020. Balancing Source Strength and Sky Coverage in IVS-INT01 Scheduling Journal of Geodesy 94 (18): [10.1007/s00190-020-01343-1]

Merkowitz, S. M., S. Bolotin, P. Elosegui, et al. J. Esper, J. Gipson, L. Hilliard, E. Himwich, E. D. Hoffman, D. D. Lakins, R. C. Lamb, F. G. Lemoine, J. L. Long, J. F. McGarry, D. S. MacMillan, B. P. Michael, C. Noll, E. C. Pavlis, M. R. Pearlman, C. Ruszczyk, M. D. Shappirio, and D. A. Stowers. 2019. Modernizing and expanding the NASA Space Geodesy Network to meet future geodetic requirements Journal of Geodesy 93 (11): 2263-2273 [10.1007/s00190-018-1204-5]

MacMillan, D. S., A. Fey, J. M. Gipson, et al. D. Gordon, C. S. Jacobs, H. Krásná, S. B. Lambert, Z. Malkin, O. Titov, G. Wang, and M. H. Xu. 2019. Galactocentric acceleration in VLBI analysis Astronomy & Astrophysics 630 A93 [10.1051/0004-6361/201935379]

Niell, A., J. Barrett, A. Burns, et al. R. Cappallo, B. Corey, M. Derome, C. Eckert, P. Elosegui, R. McWhirter, M. Poirier, G. Rajagopalan, A. Rogers, C. Ruszczyk, J. SooHoo, M. Titus, A. Whitney, D. Behrend, S. Bolotin, J. Gipson, D. Gordon, E. Himwich, and B. Petrachenko. 2018. Demonstration of a Broadband Very Long Baseline Interferometer System: A New Instrument for High-Precision Space Geodesy Radio Science 63 1263-1291 [10.1029/2018rs006617]

Uunila, M., K. D. Baver, J. M. Gipson, T. Nilsson, and H. Krasna. 2016. Comparison of VieVS and Solve UT1 results from VLBI measurements Journal of Geodesy and Geoinformation 3 (1): 1-8

Gipson, J. M., and K. D. Baver. 2016. Improvement of the IVS-INT01 sessions by source selection: development and evaluation of the maximal source strategy J. Geodesy 90 (3): 287-303 [10.1007/s00190-015-0873-6]

Le Bail, K., J. M. Gipson, D. Gordon, et al. D. S. MacMillan, D. Behrend, C. C. Thomas, S. Bolotin, W. E. Himwich, K. D. Baver, B. E. Corey, M. Titus, G. Bourda, P. Charlot, and A. Collioud. 2016. IVS Observation of ICRF2-Gaia Transfer Sources The Astronomical Journal 151 (3): 79 [10.3847/0004-6256/151/3/79]

Fey, A. L., D. Gordon, C. S. Jacobs, et al. C. Ma, R. A. Gaume, E. F. Arias, G. Bianco, D. A. Boboltz, S. Böckmann, S. Bolotin, P. Charlot, A. Collioud, G. Engelhardt, J. Gipson, A.-M. Gontier, R. Heinkelmann, S. Kurdubov, S. Lambert, S. Lytvyn, D. S. MacMillan, Z. Malkin, A. Nothnagel, R. Ojha, E. Skurikhina, J. Sokolova, J. Souchay, O. J. Sovers, V. Tesmer, O. Titov, G. Wang, and V. Zharov. 2015. The Second Realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame by Very Long Baseline Interferometry The Astronomical Journal 150 (2): 58 [10.1088/0004-6256/150/2/58]

Eriksson, D., D. S. MacMillan, and J. M. Gipson. 2014. Tropospheric delay ray tracing applied in VLBI analysis Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 119 (12): 9156-9170 [10.1002/2014jb011552]

Le Bail, K., J. M. Gipson, and D. S. Macmillan. 2014. Quantifying the Correlation Between the MEI and LOD Variations by Decomposing LOD with Singular Spectrum Analysis International Association of Geodesy Symposia, "Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet", Melbourne, Australia, June 28 - July 2, 2011 139 473-477 [10.1007/978-3-642-37222-3_63]

Gordon, D., C. Ma, D. MacMillan, et al. S. Bolotin, K. Le Bail, and J. Gipson. 2013. Effects of ICRF2 on the TRF, CRF, and EOP International Association of Geodesy Symposia 138 175-179 [10.1007/978-3-642-32998-2_26]

Gordon, D., K. L. Bail, C. Ma, et al. D. MacMillan, S. Bolotin, and J. Gipson. 2013. The Construction of ICRF2 and Its Impact on the Terrestrial Reference Frame Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet 185-188 [10.1007/978-3-642-37222-3_23]

Ma, C., D. MacMillan, S. Bolotin, et al. K. Le Bail, D. Gordon, and J. Gipson. 2012. Comparison of Realizations of the Terrestrial Reference Frame International Association of Geodesy Symposia 138 51-56 [10.1007/978-3-642-32998-2_9]

Gordon, D., C. Ma, D. S. Macmillan, et al. S. Bolotin, K. Le Bail, and J. M. Gipson. 2012. Effects of ICRF2 on the TRF, CRF, and EOP REFERENCE FRAMES FOR APPLICATIONS IN GEOSCIENCES, International Association of Geodesy Symposia, "IAG Symposium on Reference Frames for Applications in Geosciences (REFAG)", Marne-la-Vallée, France, Oct: 4-8, 2010 138 175-179 [10.1007/978-3-642-32998-2_26]

Gipson, J. M., D. Behrend, D. Gordon, et al. W. E. Himwich, D. S. Macmillan, M. Titus, and B. Corey. 2010. Coordinating, Scheduling, Processing and Analyzing IYA09 International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2010 General Meeting Proceedings NASA CP/2010-215864: Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A.: NASA CP/2010-215864 90-94

Petrov, L., D. Gordon, J. Gipson, et al. D. MacMillan, C. Ma, E. Fomalont, R. Walker, and C. C. Carabajal. 2009. Precise geodesy with the Very Long Baseline Array Journal of Geodesy 83 (9): 859-876 [10.1007/s00190-009-0304-7]

Gipson, J., and C. Ma. 1998. Site displacement due to variation in Earth rotation J. Geophysical Research - Solid Earth 103 (B4): 7337-7350 [10.1029/98JB00149]

Ma, C., and J. Gipson. 1998. VLBI applied to reference frames IAG/IGGOS Munich

Clark, T., C. Ma, J. Ryan, et al. B. Chao, J. Gipson, D. MacMillan, N. Vandenberg, T. Eubanks, and A. Niell. 1998. Earth rotation yields valuable information about the dynamics of the Earth system EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 79 205-206 [10.1029/98EO00149]

Mathews, P. M., V. Dehant, and J. M. Gipson. 1997. Tidal station displacements Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 102 (B9): 20469-20477 [10.1029/97jb01515]

Gipson, J. M. 1996. Very long baseline interferometry determination of neglected tidal terms in high-frequency Earth orientation variation Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 101 (B12): 28051-28064 [10.1029/96jb02292]

Molnar, P., and J. M. Gipson. 1996. A bound on the rheology of continental lithosphere using very long baseline interferometry: The velocity of south China with respect to Eurasia Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 101 (B1): 545-553 [10.1029/95jb02503]

Chao, B., R. Ray, J. Gipson, and G. Egbert. 1996. Diurnal/semidiurnal polar motion excited by oceanic tidal angular momentum Journal of Geophysical Research 101 (B9): 20,151-20,163 [10.1029/96JB01649]

Molnar, P., and J. M. Gipson. 1994. Very long baseline interferometry and active rotations of crustal blocks in the Western Transverse Ranges, California Geological Society of America Bulletin 106 (5): 594 [10.1130/0016-7606(1994)106<0594:vlbiaa>2.3.co;2]

Non-Refereed

Haas, R., D. Behrend, and J. M. Gipson. 2023. International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) Travaux 43 859-869

Hilliard, L. M., L. Petrov, F. G. Lemoine, et al. G. Rajagopalan, P. Elosegui, C. Ruszczyk, J. M. Gipson, D. Horsley, and G. Brown. 2019. 5 Year Technology Roadmap for VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) Proceedings of the IGARSS 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Yokohama, Japan, 28 July-2 Aug. 2019 [10.1109/IGARSS.2019.8897849]

Baver, K. D., and J. M. Gipson. 2019. UT1 Formal Errors from the BA 50 Balanced Scheduling Strategy INT01 R&Ds Proceedings of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry 2018 General Meeting: “Global Geodesy and the Role of VGOS – Fundamental to Sustainable Development”, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, June 3-8, 2018 NASA/CP–2019-219039 209-213

Macmillan, D. S., A. Fey, J. M. Gipson, et al. D. Gordon, C. Jacobs, H. Krasna, S. Lambert, C. Ma, Z. Malkin, O. Titov, G. Wang, M. , and N. Zacharias. 2019. Galactic Aberration in VLBI Analysis Proceedings of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry 2018 General Meeting: “Global Geodesy and the Role of VGOS–Fundamental to Sustainable Development”, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, June 3-8, 2018 NASA/CP–2019-219039 163-168

Behrend, D., C. C. Thomas, J. M. Gipson, and E. Himwich. 2019. Organizing the Continuous VLBI Campaign 2017 (CONT17) Proceedings of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry 2018 General Meeting: “Global Geodesy and the Role of VGOS–Fundamental to Sustainable Development”, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, June 3-8, 2018 NASA/CP–2019-219039 95-101

Bolotin, S., K. D. Baver, J. M. Gipson, D. Gordon, and D. S. Macmillan. 2017. Implementation of the vgosDb format at the GSFC VLBI Analysis Center Proceedings of the 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, 14-19 May, 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden 235-237

Baver, K. D., and J. M. Gipson. 2017. Reduction of the IVS-INT01 UT1 Formal Error through New Sked Algorithms Proceedings of the 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, 14-19 May, 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden 127-131

Gipson, J. M., and K. D. Baver. 2017. Simulation Results for KOKEE12M-WETTZ13S ’Intensives’ Proceedings of the 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, 14-19 May, 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden 108-112

Behrend, D., C. C. Thomas, J. M. Gipson, and W. E. Himwich. 2017. Planning of the Continuous VLBI Campaign 2017 (CONT17) Proceedings of the 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, 14-19 May, 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden 132-135

Le Bail, K., D. Gordon, J. M. Gipson, and D. S. Macmillan. 2017. Investigating the noise floor of VLBI source positions Proceedings of the 23rd European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry Working Meeting, 14-19 May, 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden 186-189

Nothnagel, A., D. Behrend, A. Bertarini, et al. P. Charlot, L. Combrinck, J. M. Gipson, W. E. Himwich, R. Hass, A. Ipatov, R. Kawabata, J. Lovell, C. Ma, A. E. Niell, B. Petrachenko, T. Schueler, and G. Wang. 2016. Strategic Plan of the IVS for the Period 2016-2025 International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2016 General Meeting Proceedings, "New Horizons with VGOS" NASA/CP-2016-219016 3-12

Bolotin, S., K. D. Baver, J. M. Gipson, D. Gordon, and D. S. Macmillan. 2016. Transition to vgosDb Format International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2016 General Meeting Proceedings, "New Horizons with VGOS" NASA/CP-2016-219016 222-224

Gipson, J. M., and K. D. Baver. 2016. Improvement of the IVS-INT01 Sessions through Baynesian Estimation International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2016 General Meeting Proceedings, "New Horizons with VGOS" NASA/CP-2016-219016 229-233

Gipson, J. M. 2016. El Nino and VLBI Measured Length of Day International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2016 General Meeting Proceedings, "New Horizons with VGOS" NASA/CP-2016-219016 336-340

Le Bail, K., D. Gordon, J. M. Gipson, and D. S. Macmillan. 2015. Observing Gaia transfer sources in R&D and RDV sessions Proceedings of the 22nd Meeting of the European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astronomy, Sao Miguel, Azores, May 17-21. 2015 277-280

Gipson, J. M., K. Le Bail, and C. Ma. 2014. The NASA Goddard Group's Source Monitoring Database and Program Proceedings of the 8th IVS General Meeting: "VGOS: The New VLBI Network", Shanghai, China, March 2-7, 2014 390-394

Le Bail, K., D. Gordon, and J. M. Gipson. 2014. Evaluation of the stability of ICRF2 in the past five years using the Allan variance Proceedings of the 8th IVS General Meeting: VGOS: The New VLBI Network, Shanghai, China, March 2-7, 2014

Le Bail, K., J. Gipson, J. Juhl, and D. MacMillan. 2013. Optimal time lags to use in modeling the thermal deformation of VLBI Antennas 21st Meeting of the European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astronomy, held in Espoo, Finland, March 5-8, 2013, Eds: N. Zubko and M. Poutanen, Reports of the Finnish Geodetic Institute, p. 165-168. 165-168

Thomas, C. C., D. Behrend, J. M. Gipson, and D. S. Macmillan. 2012. Network Determination and Timeliness of the Rapid Sessions International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2012 General Meeting Proceedings NASA CP/2012-217504 166-170

Bolotin, S., K. D. Baver, J. M. Gipson, D. Gordon, and D. S. Macmillan. 2012. The First Release of νSolve International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2012 General Meeting Proceedings, NASA CP/2012-217504 222-226

Juhl, J., K. Le Bail, J. M. Gipson, and D. MacMillan. 2012. Improving VLBI Processing by using Homogeneous Data for Pressure and Temperature International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2012 General Meeting Proceedings NASA CP/2012-217504 241-245

Le Bail, K., J. Gipson, and S. Bolotin. 2012. Regularization of Nutation Time Series at GSFC International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2012 General Meeting Proceedings, NASA CP/2012-217504 380-384

Le Bail, K., and J. M. Gipson. 2011. Strategy to Improve the Homogeneity of Meteorological Data in Mark3 Databases 20th Meeting of the European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astronomy, Bonn, Germany, March 29-30, 2011 138-141

Schmeing, B., D. Behrend, J. M. Gipson, and A. Nothnagel. 2010. Proof-of-Concept Studies for a Local Tie Monitoring System International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2010 General Meeting Proceedings NASA CP/2010-215864: Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A.: NASA CP/2010-215864 138-142

Gipson, J. M. 2010. IVS Working Group 4: VLBI Data Structures International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2010 General Meeting Proceedings .: NASA CP/2010-215864

Gordon, D., C. Ma, D. S. Macmillan, et al. J. M. Gipson, K. D. Baver, S. Bolotin, and K. Le Bail. 2010. GSFC VLBI analysis center 2010 International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry Annual Report 2009 231-234

Bolotin, S., J. M. Gipson, and D. S. Macmillan. 2010. Development of a new VLBI data analysis software International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry, 2010 General Meeting Proceedings, "VLBI2010: From Vision to Reality" NASA CP/2010-215864 197-201

John M Gipson

Brief Bio

Education

Positions/Employment

President & Project Manager

Senior Scientist

Senior Scientist

Post-Doc/Assistant Professor

Professional Service

Publications

Refereed

Non-Refereed

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