Identity
Establishment details:
Easement from Ministry of Agriculture (4/11/1966, 8/12, 1967)
Establishment of DSO FEK File No. 138/Vol.A/18-05-1974
Director:
Maria Tsakiri,
Professor NTUA (mtsakiri@mail.ntua.gr)
Contact info:
Email: dso@survey.ntua.gr
Tel. : 210 772 -2735, 2665, 2754
Website:
http://dionysos.survey.ntua.gr/
Introducing the Dionysos Satellite Observatory (DSO), a leader in the fields of space geodesy and its applications that is serving the research and educational needs of the School of Rural Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineering at NTUA for many years.
Founded by the visionary Professor Georgios Veis in the late 60s, DSO is located on the north-eastern slopes of Penteli. Spanning an area of 35 acres, DSO’s facilities include two main buildings and an auxiliary one. The larger building houses offices, spacious areas, instrument spaces, and a seminar room where we host training courses and lectures. With instrument stores and specialized facilities such as control platforms for special instruments, DSO has unique features that meet scientific needs in satellite geodesy.
The smaller building houses satellite and astronomical instruments, including permanent GNSS satellite receivers and the DORIS satellite tracking system in collaboration with the French space agency CNES and IGN.
It also features two important geodetic instruments intended to track artificial satellites since the time of SPUTNIK-1, including the historic Baker-Nunn camera, one of only eleven built worldwide – which was used for observing artificial satellites in the late 1950s, and the SLR (satellite laser ranging system), which have been used in many applications of DSO till the mid-80s. Outside, there is a measurement platform for portable SLR systems as well as the “zero point” of the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System (EGSA87), which is the national reference system the country currently uses for geodetic and cartographic purposes.
DSO has also established and maintains a permanent GNSS network of 14 stations in the southern regions of Greece and a smaller tide gauge network. In addition, DSO has developed a platform for automated processing of available permanent GNSS stations in Greece and internationally, allowing for the derivation of time series of position and velocities. For this capability, DSO contributes solutions to EUREF which deals with the definition, realization and maintenance of the European Reference Frame.
