Study Group on alternatives to ETRS89
The European Terrestrial Reference System 89 (ETRS89) was adopted in 1990 in Firenze, Italy, following the EUREF Resolution 1. 12 realizations have been published so far, the most recent being ETRF2020. Since then, European countries have aligned their national reference frame with respect to an ETRS89 realization.
Most of them have chosen ETRF2000 but at various epochs. Only a few countries have adopted the recent unbiased updates. On 15th October 2024, the EUREF Governing Board decided to form a Study Group (SG) to investigate if ETRS89 is still in line with user needs and to propose an alternative definition of the system if it is relevant. The conclusions of the SG are expected by the end of 2025.
Terms of reference of the study group
The study group has created an online questionnaire to collect users current and future needs regarding the European Terrestrial Reference System. The form is available at https://framaforms.org/euref-study-group-on-alternatives-to-etrs89-public-questionnaire-1774452267 and will be open until June 10. Please don't hesitate to share your opinion.
Report of activities :
- Status of the study group work presented at REFAG 2026 symposium
- Status of the study group work presented at EUREF 2025 symposium.
- Short activity summary provided in EUREF 2025 newsletter page 2.
- Status of the study group work presented at REFAG 2026 symposium (Presentation to come).
Ongoing tasks :
- Gather user needs through a private questionnaire sent to national mapping agencies and an open online questionnaire accessible to all users.
- Identify and list ETRS89 alternatives, including their advantages and disadvantages.
- Collect national coordinates to calculate the differences between existing and proposed coordinate systems.
Relevant link: