Contact: Jeanne Kouhestani FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/31/97
Captain Lewis Lapine of the NOAA Corps was recently elected a fellow of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, an honor reserved for one-half percent of the membership, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced.
Lapine is director of the National Geodetic Survey, part of NOAA's National Ocean Service, with responsibility for creating, maintaining and developing new technology and surveying standards related to the geodetic network for the United States and its territories and possessions. He previously served as chief of NGS's Photogrammetry Division, with responsibility for producing high-accuracy base mapping for navigation charts within U.S. territorial waters and national airspace.
Since joining NOAA's commissioned service in 1970, Lapine has been instrumental in helping the surveying, mapping and geodesy profession leap forward by integrating mapping techniques with the Global Positioning System, and implementing this new mapping technology in both the government and private sectors. In addition to his NOAA and ACSM positions, Lapine is a frequent advisor on GPS national and international policy issues to various federal agencies, including the State Department and Pentagon.
Throughout his career, Lapine has helped develop new technologies. In 1980 he developed the practical application of inertial survey systems to facilitate accurate and economical geodetic control for photogrammetry. In 1989 Lapine implemented GPS control of the camera exposure station to reduce the requirement for ground control and enhance the accuracy of aerotriangulation. In 1992 he received the NOAA Administrator's Award and a $250,000 discretionary fund for the implementation of multispectral remote sensing in support of the photogrammetric program.
Today, Lapine chairs the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee and the GPS Interagency Advisory Council. Both organizations direct federal resources towards improved standards and interchange of spatial data. In particular, the GIAC acts to ensure the availability and accuracy of the Global Positioning System for the general public. He also serves on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Technical Mapping Advisory Council, which is studying ways to improve flood insurance rate maps.
Before becoming director of the National Geodetic Survey in 1993, Lapine's career as a NOAA Corps officer was primarily focused in the National Ocean Service, ranging from staff positions in Ocean Services, Coastal Zone Management, and Coast and Geodetic Survey to field positions that included chief of Triangulation Field Party G-20 and field operations officer and executive officer aboard both hydrographic survey and oceanographic research ships. NOAA Corps officers, all with degrees often advanced in science or engineering, serve in critical posts at sea and on shore throughout the agency, rotating assignments and enriching each new position with fresh expertise. The NOAA Corps is the nation's smallest uniformed service.
In other professional activities, Lapine currently serves as associate editor for the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Journal, is past president of the American Association for Geodetic Surveying, past chairman of the Hydrographer Certification Board for the United States, and past president of the NOAA Association of Commissioned Officers.
Lapine, a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, holds a bachelor's degree in geodetic science, a master's degree in geodesy and photogrammetry, and a doctorate degree in geodetic science from Ohio State University. He currently resides in Brookeville, Md.
Further information about the Office of NOAA Corps Operations can be found on the Internet at: http://www.noaa.gov/nchome . For information about the National Geodetic Survey, see: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov .