A team of experts represented NGS at the 47th Annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting in San Francisco, California from December 15 to 19. AGU, the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world, brings more than 24,000 geoscientists together...
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This week, the director of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Juliana Blackwell, participated in the second in-person meeting of the Technical Mapping Advisory Council committee in Arlington, Virginia. As directed by Congress, the Council develops...
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For several years, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has provided surveyors, engineers, and other users a method of computing survey-grade single-point GPS positions through the use of its Online Positioning User Service (OPUS). To provide further service, NGS developed OPUS Projects software as an extension of that online service, allowing users to complete an entire GPS campaign or project online. In FY2014, NGS trained more than 1,000 customers and partners in OPUS Projects...
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At the request of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) established two GPS Verification Markers at the USCG STANT facility in Burlington, Vermont. The acronym "STANT" is derived from a combination of a Search and Rescue Station (STA) and Aids to Navigation Team (ANT)...
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On October 28, NGS completed a three-week project in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Airborne topographic-bathymetric ("topo-bathy") light detection and ranging (lidar) data and imagery of the shoreline were collected...
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Users of the NGS-managed Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network passed a notable milestone at the end of October, downloading the 200 millionth GPS data file from the network. These data enable users to determine centimeter-level positions...
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On October 17, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will display a historic telescope at the Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory Park as part of the Maryland Society of Surveyors' annual conference. This type of telescope was traditionally used to measure the Earth's orbital wobble...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has just released a new (approximately two-minute) video focusing on the importance of both precision and accuracy in geodetic surveying and the difference between the two terms. Produced as a collaborative effort between NGS and The COMET® Program, the video is designed for surveying professionals, planners, policy-makers, and others who use mapping products...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has successfully completed a multi-year Database Modernization project, migrating NGS databases from Sybase to Oracle and converting a massive set of applications to function seamlessly under Oracle. This major milestone meets one of the objectives identified in the NGS Ten-Year Plan...
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On Sept. 18, NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, the National Geodetic Survey, and the Office of Coast Survey conducted geodetic and tidal datums training through a widely attended two-hour webinar, completing an NOS milestone. Seventy attendees...
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NGS's Deputy Director, Dr. Neil Weston, presented the keynote address at the XIII International Congress on Surveying, Mapping, Geodesy, and Geomatics on September 20 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Dr. Weston represented NOAA and the International Federation of Surveyors...
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The week of September 22, NGS field-tested new procedures for transferring high-precision height information over natural obstacles, such as rivers or valleys. During the test, height information was transferred from the mainland across Sinepuxent Bay to Assateague Island, Maryland...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) hosted its third North American Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters at NGS' Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory in Longmont, Colorado September 13 to 21. Absolute gravimeters are used in numerous applications in geodesy, geophysics, metrology, defense...
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This week, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) completed airborne gravity data collection in areas impacted by post-tropical cyclone Sandy, with more than 275,600 square miles surveyed over the East Coast. NGS' airborne topographic-bathymetric ("topo-bathy") light detection and ranging (lidar) data and imagery acquisition is also complete and covers ~2,654 square miles of shoreline...
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Each month, the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) publishes an article on its website and in its newsletter exemplifying best practices and new research relevant to the international surveying community. For the month of September, FIG is publishing the National Geodetic Survey's paper previously reported as a scientific contribution to the Proceedings of the FIG annual meeting held in June 2014...
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NGS hosted the chief geodesist of New Zealand's National Geodetic Office and manager of the National Topographic Office at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) on August 13 for discussions related to future geodetic positioning needs...
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Beginning August 18 and continuing through August 29, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is working with Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to upgrade the geodetic control of Majuro Atoll following NGS' Height Modernization Guidelines...
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NOAA is soliciting nominations for membership on the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that advises the NOAA administrator on the agency's hydrographic programs, products, and technology. NOAA issued a
Federal Register Notice...
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On August 8, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) embarked on a two-month project to collect airborne topographic-bathymetric ("topo-bathy") light detection and ranging (lidar) data and imagery of the shoreline and waters from Dry Tortugas to Molasses Key, Florida...
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently announced that National Geodetic Survey Director, Juliana Blackwell, will serve a two-year term as NOAA's designee to the Technical Mapping Advisory Council...
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This week, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) presented a case study of the Post-Sandy topographic-bathymetric ("topo-bathy") light detection and ranging (lidar) collection and potential applications for coastal resilience at the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) 2014 Summer Conference in Idaho...
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In a new and collaborative effort between NGS and The COMET® Program, a series of four, three- to four-minute
videos has been developed as an introduction to geodetic datums...
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NGS collected
pre- and post-event oblique imagery as well as
video imagery on July 2 to 4 of Tropical Cyclone Arthur's track from Cape Henry, Virginia, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This was the first time NGS collected oblique imagery for emergency response...
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In a collaborative effort between the NGS and The COMET Program, a series of four short videos has been developed as an introduction to geodetic datums. Titled “What are Geodetic Datums?,” “How Were Geodetic Datums Established?,” “What is the Status of Today’s Geodetic Datums?,” and “What’s Next for Geodetic Datums?,” they can be viewed at:
Geodetic Datums Videos...
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The week of June 23, a scientist from the National Land and Survey of Sweden completed a two-week visit at the National Geodetic Survey...
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The new model — the first to cover all of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. mainland — incorporates all available satellite, airborne, and surface gravity data, and represents a significant step toward defining a new regional vertical datum and contributing to a world height system...
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National Geodetic Survey (NGS) staff presented at the International GNSS Service (IGS) Workshop in Pasadena, California, June 23 to 27. The IGS sets world standards for high-accuracy use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data and products...
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In 1926, an inventive surveyor named Jasper S. Bilby, chief signalman of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (an NGS predecessor agency), designed the nation's first galvanized steel surveying towers...
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Visitors from the Geodesy and Geodynamics Lab of the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry in Zurich, Switzerland, are providing training on the theory, software, and operation of a Compact Digital Astrometric Camera (CODIAC) May 27 to June 13 at NGS' Corbin Training Center. The Swiss scientists will also present talks to NGS and NOAA's National Ocean Service...
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This week, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) began hosting scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology as they train their NOAA counterparts to use a Compact Digital Astrometric Camera. The camera will be used in a NOAA survey project to validate the latest gravity surface model (called "the geoid")...
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On May 15 in Washington D.C., National Geodetic Survey (NGS) director, Juliana Blackwell, participated in a panel discussion hosted by the EarthScope National Office at Arizona State University to discuss the broader impacts, policy, and future of EarthScope. The Plate Boundary Observatory (a component of EarthScope) contributes data from 450 of its 1,100 stations to the NGS-managed Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) network...
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This week, Juliana Blackwell, National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Director, presented at the NGS-hosted 2014
National Height Modernization Partner Meeting at the NOAA Disaster Response Center in Mobile, Alabama. More than 15 states were represented, as well as agencies including the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
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NGS' Dr. Dan Roman recently visited the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Administration (KHOA) in Busan to discuss refinements in vertical positioning in the near-coastal environment. Dr. Roman also worked with researchers at the Korean National Geographic Information Institute, as well as professors from the University of Seoul, in modeling the Earth’s gravity field as it pertains to height determination in near coastal regions prone to flooding...
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The National Geodetic Survey is providing training on precise digital leveling techniques using corresponding software applications to representatives from NOAA, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, state agencies, local governments...
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From April 7-10, National Geodetic Survey (NGS) representatives trained Louisiana Department of Transportation (LA DOT) personnel in using OPUS Projects. This new online tool gives users access to simple tools for managing and processing geodetic surveying projects...
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By sharing GPS field data via the National Geodetic Survey's (NGS)
Online Positioning User Service (OPUS), volunteer surveyors from across the United States contributed to improving the nation's height system during National Surveyors Week, held during the week of March 16...
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In collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a survey team from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) completed a local site survey at the Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory (KPGO) on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Due to its remote location and the co-location of three space geodesy technique instruments at the site, KPGO is an especially important component...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) encourages anyone with survey-grade Global Positioning System receivers to join the 2014
GPS on Bench Marks Campaign a National Surveyors Week event planned for the week of March 16 to 22...
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Last week, representatives from NGS participated in the
UNAVCO Science Workshop in Broomfield, Colorado. This annual workshop provides Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) geodesists an opportunity to discuss emerging and evolving scientific applications of GNSS technology in areas such as...
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On March 4, the National Geodetic Survey presented a webinar on the National Height Modernization Program and other supporting services, such as our Online Positioning User Service and...
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Costa Rica is initiating a project to modernize its geospatial reference system and has identified the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) as a world leader in geospatial datums and reference frame design. On February 24, NGS hosted representatives from a professional engineering society in Costa Rica...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) hosted a mini-comparison of absolute gravimeters at the Table Mountain Geophysical Observatory (TMGO) in Longmont, Colorado, from Feb. 17-20. The absolute gravimeters participating were from Austria and Germany, with two other meters belonging to the United States...
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The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has been expanding collection and processing of oblique aerial imagery to satisfy a wide range of Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) requirements, from mapping and charting, to emergency response, to coastal zone management...
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NGS's Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) Project has received permission from the Mexican government to overfly Mexican airspace. The project requires data to be collected 150 kilometers into Canada, Mexico, and offshore. Although NGS routinely coordinates with Canada regarding overflight of their airspace, this is our first attempt to conduct a large-scale gravity survey over Mexican airspace...
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This week, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Sentinel Site Cooperative is completing a regional inventory of Surface Elevation Table (SET) studies. SETs enable the evaluation of coastal wetland sustainability...
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