GNET, Greenland GNSS Network, is Greenland's invaluable geodetic infrastructure.

An internationally coordinated research campaign, the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, initiated a coordinated effort to study the polar regions using modern observational techniques, including a major investigation using geodetic and seismic instrumentation. This effort is formally known and funded under the name “POLENET”, or the Polar Earth Observing Network. In Greenland, the GNET project was developed to establish a network of GPS receivers operating continuously and autonomously on stable bedrock around Greenland. The most prominent institutions involved in supporting this effort have been The Ohio State University, the University of Luxembourg, UNAVCO (Boulder, CO), and the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Space Research and Technology (DTU Space, Copenhagen). A total of 42 permanent GNSS stations were established along the coast of Greenland between 2007 and 2009.

Between 1996 and 2009, the Danish Maps and Cadastral Authority (KMS) established a network of permanent GNSS stations along the coast of Greenland. A total of 16 stations were established during this time and were operated simultaneously with the GNET project. 

In 2009, the two networks started operating together, with maintenance carried out by UNAVCO and DTU Space in coordination, and supported by the US National Science Foundation.

On January 1, 2019, the Danish Government formally took over the ownership of all 58 GNET stations. The Danish Agency for Climate Data (KDS) is the Geodetic authority in Greenland and Denmark. KDS has, since January 1, 2019, administered and developed GNET in the best interest of the Greenlandic geodetic infrastructure as well as the interests of the global scientific research community. GNET maintenance is carried out yearly in collaboration between KDS, the Technical University of Denmark, Department of Space Research and Space Technology, and with support from the EarthScope Consortium (ESC).

Status of GNET Q1 2026

Total number of stations: 71 GNSS stations.

• State-of-the-art instruments and infrastructure
• Network of Continuous Operated Reference Stations (CORS)
• Operating continuously and autonomously on stable bedrock around the coast of Greenland.
• Direct and secure communication connections
• Yearly maintenance and continuous monitoring 
• Real-time data stream from 18 GNET stations located in towns and settlements