Thursday, December 15, 2011

National Geodetic Survey Releases Initial Gravimetric Geoid Validation Results (NGS)

In partnership with international colleagues and state, local, and university partners, NOAA validated an important component of the latest gravity surface model (the "geoid") in 2011 and presented initial survey results at the December American Geophyiscal Union Conference in San Francisco, California. Tests performed over an approximate three-month period resulted in a comprehensive survey along a 300-kilometer route from Corpus Christi to Austin, Texas. Through various measurements, the survey validated significant improvements in elevation measurements that will be available to users as part of NOAA's Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) initiative. Airborne gravity collected from the GRAV-D Project were shown to improve the accuracy of the gravity surface model by a factor of up to two across all distances, and these data will be made available to the public for use in additional studies. NOAA hopes that the new survey marks placed as part of this validation study will accommodate future use, as well. The Texas survey effort represents one of the most complete surveys performed in the nation's history. For more information, contact Dru Smith.