NGS Weekly Archive 2010 - NGS News - National Geodetic Survey

12/23/2010 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeking to Expand Development and Use of High-accuracy Geodetic Control Network

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recently turned to the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) for assistance in the application of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology to obtain high-accuracy positions and elevations across its northeast coastal refuge system...more

12/16/2010 - Surveys Gather Feedback from More than 1,000 County Geospatial Representatives

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is wrapping up a series of online surveys to obtain feedback on its geospatial positioning products and services from core users...more

12/07/2010 - NGS Coordinates with Canada on Cross-border Geodetic Collaborations

On December 7, National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Acting Director, Ronnie Taylor; NOS Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Juliana Blackwell; and other NGS representatives met with the Director of the Geodetic Survey Division (GSD), of Natural Resources Canada...more

12/06/2010 - NOAA's Navigation Services Engage Coastal Community at Bays and Bayous Symposium

At last week's Bays and Bayous Symposium in Mobile, Alabama, coastal planners, researchers, and policy makers attended an NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) session dedicated to sharing ideas on coastal applications for modeling and data gathered by NOS navigation services offices (Office of Coast Survey, National Geodetic Survey, and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services)...more

12/02/2010 - Floating Real-Time Global Navigation Satellite Systems to Validate Mobile Bay Circulation Model

This week the NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) began a 90-day deployment of seven Real-Time Global Navigation Satellite System (RT GNSS) "floats" at strategic locations around Mobile Bay, Alabama...more

11/24/2010 - NGS Participates in Cooperative Effort with USGS and Harris-Galveston Subsidence District

On November 18, the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District in Friendswood, TX, began collecting data at a new Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) located at the Clear Lake Borehole Extensometer near the Johnson Space Center. Borehole extensometers are deeply anchored benchmarks. The Clear Lake Extensometer is the deepest in the Houston region at 3,072 feet...more

11/18/2010 - NGS Pilot Project Will Assist FEMA with Floodplain Mapping

As the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) moves closer to replacing the North American Datum of 1983 and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988, it will interact closely with agencies that use the datums to assist them with the transition...more

11/12/2010 - GRAV-D Alaska Survey Operations to Conclude for the Season in Alaska

The National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) airborne team transitioned from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska for its final week of operations for the 2010 calendar year...more

11/05/2010 - NGS Helps Improve Precise Positioning Framework for Puerto Rico

Representatives from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) traveled to Puerto Rico on November 1 to assist with ongoing activities to improve the geodetic framework on the island. NGS participants met with leveling contractors, visited leveling lines, and provided software-training seminars to surveyors...more

10/26/2010 - Height Modernization Benchmarks Published for Poplar Island

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, and NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, recently published high-accuracy positions for project bench marks at the Poplar Island restoration project in the Chesapeake Bay...more

10/22/2010 - NOAA Gets Positive Recommendation from National Research Council Report

A recently released report from the National Academies of Sciences, National Research Council (NRC) titled Precise Geodetic Infrastructure: National Requirements for a Shared Resource recommends renewed investment in the geodetic infrastructure that NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) provides...more

10/18/2010 - NGS Hosts North American Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters

During the week of October 18, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) hosted the North American Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters at the NGS Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory (TMGO) in Longmont, Colorado. Other U.S. federal agencies, as well as government agencies from Canada participated...more

10/12/2010 - NGS Participates in Hydrographic Services Review Panel Public Meeting

The Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a Federal Advisory Committee that advises the NOAA Administrator, convened a public meeting in Vancouver, Washington, October 12-13. The Panel deliberated on NOAA's hydrographic services and matters that affect marine transportation, safe navigation, commercial shipping, ocean and coastal stewardship, coastal and marine spatial planning, recreational boating, and ocean policy...more

10/12/2010 - NGS Represents NOAA's National Ocean Service at Living Shoreline Monitoring Project

Over the past year, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has worked closely with the NOAA Restoration Center in designing and implementing a study to monitor the evolution of a large living shoreline project along the shores of the Potomac River at Piscataway Park, about ten nautical miles south of Washington DC...more

10/08/2010 - GRAV-D Project Progresses in Alaska

NGS' Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) Project began airborne survey work aboard the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management's Pilatus PC-12 aircraft on September 16...more

09/20/2010 - Tenth Annual CORS User Forum

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS)-in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard hosted the 10th annual Continuously Operating Reference Station User's Forum on September 20 in Portland, Oregon...more

09/15/2010 - NGS Participates in 'NOAA Day' at Mobile Bay, Alabama

On September 15, the Port of Mobile, Alabama and NOS representatives hosted a 'NOAA Day' to inform members of the local Mobile maritime community of various NOAA activities in the region...more

09/03/2010 - NGS Collects Airborne Imagery in Response to Hurricane Earl

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey collected airborne imagery on September 3 in response to Hurricane Earl hitting the North Carolina coast...more

09/09/2010 - NGS Participates in GPS Power-flex Testing for Simulation of Potential Interference and Signal Jamming

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is participating in tests of civilian Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite receivers September 7-11 in a simulation of a response to potential signal interference or jamming...more

09/07/2010 - NGS to Host Kinematic GPS Challenge

NGS scientists are hosting a "Kinematic GPS Challenge" to seek community input on the best practices for processing its large GRAV-D positioning data volume. For the exercise, research institutions and companies can compute position solutions using actual data...more

08/27/2010 - NGS' OPUS Database Service Reaches Milestone

The National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) latest enhancement to its Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) has recently crossed the $1 million mark for estimated savings realized by the user community...more

08/19/2010 - Missouri Statewide Height Modernization Survey Launched (NGS)

On August 12, private surveyors joined their State and Federal colleagues to begin a statewide height modernization survey of Missouri. Surveyors in all 114 Missouri counties activated their geodetic-grade GPS receivers at the same time...more

08/13/2010 - NGS Contributes to International Collaborative Effort in the Unification of Height Systems

During the week of August 8 to 13, staff from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) participated in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting of the Americas, in Iguacu Falls, Brazil...more

08/13/2010 - NGS Presents at Gulf of Mexico Alliance Conference

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) met with a range of partners and stakeholders at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) Implementation and Integration Workshop in Biloxi, Mississippi, on August 4 and 5...more

08/06/2010 - NGS Highlights Height Modernization at Transportation Research Board Meeting

On July 27, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) presented a session at a Geospatial Data Acquisition Technologies in Design and Construction Committee meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Huntsville, Alabama. NGS discussed its Height Modernization Program and...more

07/26/2010 - NOAA Makes Its Mark at the 2010 ESRI International User Conference

From July 10-16, staff from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) participated in the 30th Annual ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, CA, the world's largest conference devoted to geographic information systems (GIS)...more

07/26/2010 - NGS Welcomes Visiting Scientists from Turkey and Taiwan

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) welcomed a scientist for a two-week visit from Turkey to learn about NGS's Height Modernization and Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum programs...more

07/06/2010 - NGS Plays Active Role at International GNSS Service Workshop

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) played an active role at the International GNSS Service (IGS) 2010 Workshop in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, from June 28 to July 2. The last day of the workshop featured...more

06/22/2010 - NGS Sponsors Three Activities for the 2010 NOAA Restoration Day in Oxford, Maryland

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) showcased both traditional and non-traditional applications of its products and services in contribution to the 2010 NOAA Restoration Day held at the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory in Oxford Maryland on June 15...more

06/22/2010 - NGS Releases New Version of Software

The June 15 release of a newly updated version of NGS' PAGE-NT Global Positioning System (GPS) software will allow NGS state geodetic advisors, contractors, and state geodetic agencies to achieve better height accuracy (and horizontal accuracy) when positioning sites near the coast...more

06/09/2010 - Successful Summit Begins Dialog with Federal Mapping Agencies

On May 11 and 12, 2010, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) hosted a successful summit with more than 35 federal mapping agencies, state agencies, academia, and others to discuss upcoming improvements to the National Spatial Reference System...more

06/08/2010 - NOAA Chairs Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee Meeting (NGS)

On May 13, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) presided at the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee (FGCS) of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) meeting at NOAA in Silver Spring. As the chair, NGS Director Juliana Blackwell provided the opening remarks, as well as a wrap-up of the meeting and the closing statements...more

06/07/2010 - NOAA Hosts Stakeholder Forum on Geodetic Models and Tools (NGS)

An interactive review of NOAA's National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) products and services took place May 19 and 20 during a two-day stakeholder forum in Silver Spring. The focus was the future of NGS geodetic models and tools and incorporation of user feedback...more

06/04/2010 - NOAA Developing Unified North American Geoid with International Partners (NGS)

From May 31 to June 4, scientists from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) met with international colleagues from Canada and Mexico at the Joint Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society to continue the coordinated shift to a vertical reference system based on a scientific model of Earth's gravity field (geoid)...more

05/24/2010 - NGS Chief Geodesist Inteviewed on Federal News Radio May 21

National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Chief Geodesist, Dr. Dru Smith, was interviewed on Federal News Radio 1500AM on Friday, May 21, 2010 following a press release...more

05/17/2010 - Training Held for Surveyors at American Congress of Surveying and Mapping Conference

From April 24-28, NGS trained surveyors at the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) conference in Phoenix, AZ, by presenting technical workshops and performing outreach on a wide variety of geospatial topics...more

04/28/2010 - NGS' Gilbert Mitchell Honored for Exemplary Service

Gilbert Mitchell of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) was honored by NOAA on April 27 with a 2009 Distinguished Career Award--one of the highest honors granted by Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere...more

04/14/2010 - NOAA's National Geodetic Survey Assists with Sanctuary Vessel Survey

During the week of April 5, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) assisted NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary by conducting a vessel survey of the newly acquired 50-foot research vessel Storm...more

04/07/2010 - NOAA Releases Real-Time Guidelines

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) recently announced the approval and release of a document titled "National Geodetic Survey User Guidelines for Single Base Real-Time GNSS Positioning." The guidelines provide definitive criteria to achieve various specific tiers of precision, with high confidence, using global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)....more

04/07/2010 - National Geodetic Survey Provides Access to New Redefined Geoid Via OPUS

Two new features on the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Web site allow the public to preview proposed changes to the U.S. vertical datum—the system used to define the heights of geographical information, such as mountains, lakes, floodplains, and chart depths. The U.S. Geoid 2009 Web site now features an interactive lookup for comparing new and old geoid heights...more

03/31/2010 - NGS Improves Infrastructure for Precise Positioning in Alaska

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) recently added seven Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) to improve the infrastructure for precise positioning in Alaska, for a total of 24 stations added in Alaska in the past month, allowing faster and more accurate surveying and mapping...more

03/22/2010 - NGS and CO-OPS Provide Training on Datums

On March 2-3 and 9, the NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) and National Geodetic Survey (NGS) partnered to deliver a Web-based training called "Introduction to Geodetic and Tidal Vertical Datums."...more

03/16/2010 - NGS Goes Green with More Fuel-efficient Vehicles

NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is adding to its fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles with an additional six new cost-effective SUVs and minivans, thereby helping to lower NOAA's carbon footprint...more

03/10/2010 - NOAA Presents Research Design for Collaborative Global Climate Change Project

On March 3, representatives from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services met with the U.S. Geological Survey to discuss research design for a collaborative U.S. Department of the Interior-funded global climate change project...more