About the Institute of Navigation

The Institute of Navigation (ION) is the world’s premier non-profit professional society advancing the art and science of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT). Founded in 1945, it serves a diverse community including those interested in air, space, marine, and land navigation; and position determination. Corporate members include corporations, civil and military government agencies, private scientific and technical institutions, universities and training academies, and consulting firms. Membership is worldwide, and it is affiliated with the International Association of Institutes of Navigation.

Membership

Membership benefits include a subscription to peer reviewed NAVIGATION, Journal of the Institute of Navigation (indexed by Thomson Reuters); subscription to the quarterly ION Newsletter; and access to an online database of over 19,500 PNT-related technical papers.

ION International Technical Meetings

These technical meetings offer you and your colleagues the opportunity to exchange technological information on the various navigation and positioning systems. The Institute currently offers the following technical meetings:

• ION GNSS+ Meeting (Sponsored by the ION Satellite Division)
• International Technical Meeting (ITM)
• Joint Navigation Conference (Sponsored by the ION Military Division)
• Pacific PNT
• IEEE/ION Position Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 
• Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting (PTTI)

These conferences provide a chance to present technical papers and discuss new findings with industry peers. The meetings are an opportunity to meet new people and renew old acquaintances.

ION Sections

Regional Sections: currently the ION has active sections across the U.S. and Canada. If you are interested in forming a section in your area, please contact the ION National Office.

Publications

NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation is a quarterly electronic journal published by the Institute of Navigation (ION). The journal publishes original, peer-reviewed papers in an open access (OA) environment on all areas related to the art, science, and engineering of positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) covering land (including indoor use), sea, air, and space applications. PNT technologies of interest encompass navigation satellite systems (both global and regional); inertial navigation; electro-optical systems including LiDAR and imaging sensors; and radio-frequency ranging and timing systems, including those using signals of opportunity from communication systems and other non-traditional PNT sources. Papers about PNT algorithms and methods, such as for error characterization and mitigation, integrity analysis, PNT signal processing, and multi-sensor integration are welcome. The journal also accepts papers on non-traditional applications of PNT systems, including remote sensing of the Earth’s surface or atmosphere, as well as selected historical and survey articles.

The ION publishes Proceedings from each ION conference. These proceedings contain each paper presented at the conference and provide a valuable resource for industry professionals.

Another popular series of publications are the Monographs of the Global Positioning System, better known as the "GPS Red Books".

Awards Program

The Institute sponsors several major annual awards. 

In addition to the major awards, the ION sponsors student awards for navigation excellence. Cash awards are available to outstanding students of navigation selected by the faculty of recognized academies.

ION Council

The Council of the Institute acts as its board of directors. Council members are elected by the membership. Day-to-day operations of the Institute are conducted by the national office staff, at the national headquarters of the ION in Manassas, Virginia.

Satellite Division

The purpose of the Satellite Division is to encourage the development, operation, and use of navigation and position determination systems incorporating satellite based elements. The Satellite Division sponsors two awards presented each year. The Johannes Kepler Award honors individuals for sustained and significant contributions to the development of satellite navigation. The Bradford W. Parkinson Award recognizes outstanding graduate students in the field of Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

Military Division

The purpose of the Military Division is to further the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) capabilities of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by sponsoring, organizing and directing conferences for government, industry, and academia.