[LEAPSECS] Standards of time zones -Brooks Harris

[Rob Seaman]

On Jan 9, 2014, at 4:58 PM, Brooks Harris <brooks at edlmax.com> wrote:


> Well, its clear the "end game" would take a long time to realize. It will take serious patience on the part of folks who care.


We’re halfway there, then ;-)  This conversation has been going on for a very long time.  Click through to the archives for the current list and for the original leapsecs list from:

	http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/futureofutc/links.html

The place to start before making a foray into the mailing list, however, is with Steve Allen’s excellent pages:

	http://ucolick.org/~sla/leapsecs/


> My point is that the standards, where they exist, are dispersed and fractured.


Indeed.  They are also contingent on physical context from the real world.  It is simple fact that a single time scale is insufficient to model the complexity of the systems required.


> So, an effort to simply consolidate the terms, definitions, and standards into a single reference document would go a long way toward lending clarity to system implementers, other industries, and, importantly, to governments seeking to refine their laws to coordinate time and commerce with other jurisdictions.


Maybe a reference library is a reasonable place to start rather than a single document.  I’m biased, but not therefore wrong, in recommending the proceedings of the 2011 and 2013 UTC meetings:

Decoupling Civil Timekeeping from Earth Rotation:

	http://futureofutc.org/2011/preprints/

Requirements for UTC and Civil Timekeeping on Earth:

	http://futureofutc.org/preprints/

The published proceedings are available from the American Astronautical Society:

	http://www.univelt.com/Science.html

As well as this week’s well attended American Astronomical Society splinter meeting:

	http://futureofutc.org/aas223/

Rob Seaman
National Optical Astronomy Observatory