The Metsähovi Fundamental Station is a key infrastructure of the FGI. Metsähovi is the basic station for the national FIN2000 reference system, and a part of the National permanent GNSS network FinnRef, created and maintained by the FGI. It is also the basic point of the new national height system N2000 (created by the FGI), and the fundamental point of the Finnish gravity system is also in Metsähovi. Internationally, Metsähovi is a stable part of global network of geodetic core stations which are used in maintaining global terrestrial and celestial reference frames, for computation of satellite orbits, and for several geophysical studies (e.g. for global change studies). In Metsähovi there are
- receivers for satellite positioning,
- Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR),
- a radio telescope for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI),
- superconducting gravimeter and other gravimeters,
- DORIS beacon owned by French Space Agency CNES,
- seismometer of the University of Helsinki,
- local geodetic network for tie measurements and instrument test,
- and a photogrammetric test field.
In the renewal, all instrumentation of Metsähovi, plus the permanent GNSS network FinnRef will be renewed by 2017 based on the total of 8.1 M€ funding provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Most of the activity of the Metsähovi group will be related to the renewal in coming years.