An Overview of the New Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with Emphasis on the Science Services Study Group

The ITU Radiocommunications (ITU-R) Sector is organized such that the Members can exchange technical views and develop recommendations on the use of the radio spectrum for a variety of critical radio services. Among these services are a group of very special radio based activities known collectively as the Science Services. These radio services are the Space Research Service, the Earth Exploration Satellite Service, the Meteorological Satellite Service, the Radio and Radar Astronomy Service, and the Time and Frequency Standard Service. Study Group 7 of the ITU-R is responsible for dealing with these services and, since 1970, has been developing the radio spectrum utilization criteria for the extremely complex and sensitive techniques employed by the services. These techniques are applied in both terrestrial and space-borne environments and have opened the door to a great many scientific achievements giving mankind a much greater understanding of our environment and how it affects our lives. Each presentation in today's Symposium session will highlight one or more of these services and illustrate many of the important discoveries evolving from them.