News Archive
Geoid Slope Validation Survey of 2011
To begin addressing the actual achievable accuracy of a gravimetric geoid model, NGS has started a project known as the Geoid Slope Validation Survey of 2011, or GSVS11, between Austin, Texas and Corpus Christi, Texas. Read more about the effort on the project page.
Pocket GPS Manager (PGM) application available for download
Pocket GPS Manager (PGM) is a set of software tools to assist in the planning, execution, processing, and archival of GPS height modernization projects and other types of GPS surveys. Visit the California Spatial Reference Center website to learn more.
Digital level software tool available for testing
A new digital level tool is being developed by Height Modernization partner, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. Now available for testing, this new software tool can assist with digital data leveling...more ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
06/22/2012 - NGS Collaborates with Height Modernization Partners
On Thursday, June 21, NGS hosted a meeting with its National Height Modernization Program partners, primarily state agencies and universities. NGS discussed new and updated products and services directed at improving the accuracy and accessibility of elevation information, and its partner agencies shared lessons learned and best practices from ongoing and past projects.
06/14/2012 - NGS' Leveling Online Computations User Service (LOCUS) Software Released for Production
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) recently released a new Web utility titled "Leveling Online Computations User Service" (LOCUS). LOCUS performs a preliminary adjustment of geodetic leveling, enabling surveyors to obtain accurate heights referenced to the official National Vertical Datum in their project area...more
5/29/2012 - NOAA's Height Modernization Program Generates Significant Benefits
In early May, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) completed a large vertical adjustment project covering approximately 80 percent of the land area of Wisconsin and providing new or improved height data on 5,205 survey marks. This geodetic data is an important component for many height-related activities, such as the development of floodplain maps, transportation systems, and engineering projects.
5/29/2012 - NGS Assists Pohnpei with Height Modernization Survey and Training
Beginning May 21, and continuing through July 7, 2012, the National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) Pacific region geodetic advisor will be in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, to assist the region by creating a Height Modernization survey. The survey will provide the area with a new vertical reference system, and the NGS representative will also train the islanders to perform leveling surveys, similar to work NGS has performed in partnership with other Pacific islands.
5/10/2012 - NGS Presents at International Federation of Surveyors Working Week 2012 Conference Representatives from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) are playing a major role at the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Working Week 2012 in Rome, Italy from May 6 to 10. The theme of the event is "Knowing to Manage the Territory, Protect the Environment, Evaluate the Cultural Heritage." Professionals and academic members from around the globe attend the conference, representing land surveying, GIS, spatial planning and management, civil engineering, hydrography, and other related geospatial fields.
4/4/2012 - NGS Joins Panel at Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) Working Group Meeting
NGS led a panel discussion with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) explaining how datums are the necessary foundation for hurricane and flooding response. The HIFLD working group aims to improve the sharing of geospatial information across multiple levels of government, and a common geospatial foundation is critical in creating homeland infrastructure visualization and analysis tools.
3/27/12 – NGS Partner Presents Meeting on NGS' Height Modernization Program
NGS partner, Gary Thompson of the North Carolina Geodetic Survey hosted a Southeast Region meeting on Height Modernization to share information on state activities in the region. His efforts have been instrumental in providing updates and sharing lessons learned among states engaged in Height Mod activities without the benefit of federal funding, and this event supports the effort to coordinate activities to expand implementation of Height Mod within a region.
3/23/12 - NGS Presents at Minnesota's 2012 Survey Technical Workshop NGS staff presented at the 2012 Survey Technical Workshop in Breezy Point, Minnesota. The workshop included a full-day track focused on NGS' Height Modernization efforts in the Great Lakes region, and several states shared elements of their Height Modernization programs including real time and leveling surveys. The Great Lakes Region Height Modernization Consortium also met and discussed continuing regional implementation through education and coordination. Find additional information on our Events page.
1/31/12 - Professional Surveyor Highlights Planned Updates to the NGS Datasheet Format
In response to stakeholder and NGS staff concerns, NGS has developed several modifications to the format of the NGS datasheet—the primary method for accessing the passive control network of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). The feature article summarizes the datasheet changes, and the format change announcement is also available online.
10/20/11 - NGS Educates Partners at Great Lakes Height Modernization Consortium
National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) Height Modernization Program educated partners at this fall's Great Lakes Region Height Modernization Consortium Meeting, October 13-14, in Columbus, Ohio...more
10/20/11 - Diving Deeper, National Ocean Service Podcast Episode 33: Height Modernization
How do we rely on elevation data every single day? What do geodesists need to quickly and efficiently measure heights? Learn this and more in today's Diving Deeper, an interview with Renee Shields from the National Geodetic Survey on Height Modernization.
Listen to Podcast
10/13/11 - Making Waves, National Ocean Service Podcast Episode 85: Building a Better Geoid
National Geodetic Survey's Chief Geodesist Dru Smith explains what the
geoid is—and how NGS staff are working to make this gravity-based global
model of mean sea level a better tool to help us measure heights.
Listen to podcast.
9/5/11 - ACSM's Radio Hour discusses impacts on surveying activities caused by earthquakes out West
Guest Greg Helmer, a former co-chair of the California Spatial Reference Center, talks about the origins of Height Modernization in the state and the development of a National Program during a longer discussion about the impacts on surveying activities caused by earthquakes out West. You can listen to the broadcast by visiting the ACSM Radio Hour archives here.
8/19/11 – Height Modernization National Partner Meeting
A Partner Meeting was held on August 19, 2011 in Silver Spring, MD. During the meeting, NGS provided updates on current projects and improvements to existing models or tools. Partners highlighted activities in their states and discussed challenges they have encountered. Presentations from the workshop, as well as a final meeting report, will be available online here.
8/18/11 – LiDAR and Height Modernization Workshop
A LiDAR and Height Modernization Workshop was held on August 18, 2011 in Silver Spring, MD. The event explored the importance of vertical accuracy when collecting or using LiDAR data. Presentations from the workshop, as well as a final meeting report, will be available online here.
02/23/2011 – American Surveyor Highlights Expedition to Re-measure Elevation of Mount Rainier
The Land Surveyors Association of Washington completed an expedition in September 2010 to re-measure the elevation of Mount Rainier. Successfully completing its mission, the survey team completed static and real-time GNSS observations, and the published elevation value will remain 14,411 feet. The full article is available online.
03/17/2009 - Europe Launches First Earth Explorer Mission Goce
The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) was launched into a low Earth orbit on March 17, 2009...more
11/6/2008 - Release of new version of database retrieval program
NGS has implemented a new datasheet retrieval program to facilitate publication of data from the Southern Louisiana Height Modernization project completed after Hurricane Katrina in conjunction with FEMA post hurricane recovery efforts. There should be no change in the datasheets published for other parts of the country, but special circumstances caused by subsidence in the southern Louisiana region required some changes to the publication of certain stations there.
In 2004, a similar project was published in the NGS Database and NAVD 88 orthometric height data was made available in a defined subsidence region of southern Louisiana for stations in this project. Heights for other bench marks in the region were suppressed to prevent use of the outdated data with the new values. The project completed in 2006 covered a geographic area that extends further north in Louisiana, and densified the vertical network by more than 230 additional bench marks.
11/6/2008 - Publication of Southern Louisiana Post Katrina Height Modernization Project
In October 2006, field work was completed for the post-Katrina Height Modernization project, funded by FEMA and performed with the help of NGS and the Louisiana Spatial Reference Center (LSRC). This project has been adjusted, and updated NAVD 88 heights are available. This project expands the vertical control network north of the I-10 boundary surveyed in 2004, and provides up to date NAVD 88 heights for approximately 330 marks in southern Louisiana.
This project has been loaded into the NGS Database and new position and height information is available on NGS datasheets. New NAVD 88 heights from this project are given an epoch datum tag of 2006.81. To prevent the use of outdated heights within the 2006 project area, the NAVD 88 orthometric heights for stations not recently re-determined will have their values superseded and no longer published as a current and valid orthometric height.
04/28/2008 - Precision Agriculture in Alabama Benefits from use of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS)
Precision agriculture experts with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University's Biosystems Engineering Department dedicated a Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) at the R.A. Hubbard High School On May 16, 2008...more
03/03/2008 - Bench Mark Reset Procedures
The NGS Bench Mark Reset Guidelines provide the necessary information to preserve elevation data for a soon-to-be disturbed or soon-to-be destroyed bench mark. Bench marks provide a continuous record of elevation changes, as well as vertical control for many local surveyors, and their preservation is vital. It is imperative that elevation information be transferred or referenced from the original bench mark prior to its being disturbed or destroyed. The support and cooperation of local surveyors and engineers in this endeavor is not only important, but essential to the preservation of bench marks...more
11/16/2007 - National Height Modernization Program (N-HMP) State Partners Brief NOAA Administrator, Vice Admiral Lautenbacher
Representatives from the 11 current N-HMP states provided a briefing for VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher on the status and progress of N-HMP efforts in their states. The briefing was to express appreciation to NOAA for their strong support of the N-HMP and highlight the importance of the N-HMP for a wide variety of NOAA/NGS programs in the states and across the nation, including positioning infrastructure for monitoring effects of climate change impacts like sea level rise through use of CORS data, GPS-Met water vapor studies, monitoring of land velocities, and preparation of accurate floodplain maps.
Representatives of N-HMP partners from state and local governments, academia, and the private sector included John Canas (California), Roy Dokka (Louisiana), David Mooneyhan (Mississippi), Gary Thompson and Joseph Monroe (North Carolina), Matt Wellslager (South Carolina), Garey Gilley and Gary Jeffress (Texas), David Steele (Washington), and David Moyer (Wisconsin). Admiral Lautenbacher indicated the importance of the N-HMP partnership with NOAA and pledged his continuing support of N-HMP for a full nationwide program. Visit our past events archive to learn more.
