Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The Gaia space satellite will perform absolute astrometry, aiming at the definition of aglobal astrometric reference frame at visual wavelengths. Within this reference system, itwill be very difficult to identify possible errors in the measurements or in the datareduction process that brings about the definition of the final catalogue. The Gaia DataProcessing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) has established an Astrometric Verification Unit(AVU) to verify crucial steps in the baseline data processing chain and report on anysignificant difference. This process is essential in order to guarantee a high qualitycatalogue to the larger scientific community. We describe here the global spherereconstruction (GSR) component of AVU hosted by the Italian data processing centre atTorino (DPCT).