The National Geodetic Survey 10 Year Plan

Mission, Vision and Strategy

2008-2018

The NGS 10 year plan2008-2018

• History

• Overview

• Five Technical Improvements

• Summary

History

• Fall 2006 (NGS Leadership Summit)– Ten year plan conceptualized

• Feb 2007– First draft released for public comment

• Jan 2008– Final version approved by NGS for public release

The National Geodetic Survey 10 year plan -- Mission, Vision and Strategy 2008-2018

• Official NGS policy as of Jan 9, 2008– Mission Focused– Modernized Agency– Attention to accuracy– Attention to time-changes– Improved products and services– Integration with other fed missions– www.ngs.noaa.gov/10yearplan

• 2018 Targets:– NAD 83 and NAVD 88 re-defined– Cm-accuracy access to all coordinates– Customer-focused agency– Global scientific leadership

Overview

• Official Title:

The National Geodetic Survey 10 year plan -- Mission, Vision and Strategy 2008-2018

• Newly stated Mission

• Vision of the future– To accomplish the mission

• Five Technical Improvements– To achieve the vision

Overview: Mission

The National Spatial Reference System (NSRS)

• The official system of the federal government which allows a user to determine (inside the USA):– Geodetic latitude, longitude and height– Orthometric height, geopotential– Acceleration of gravity and deflection of the

vertical• All in the latest official datums, as defined by

NGS– The location of the National Shoreline

• And importantly:– All necessary information to describe how all of

these quantities change over time

Components of the NSRS include…

• Models, Tools and Infrastructure– Orientation and scale relative to Int’l Ref Systems– Precise orbits of GNSS sat’s used to define NSRS– CORS– Some passive monumentation– Accurate and time-tracked gravity field (including

the geoid, orthometric heights, dynamic heights)– Programs for coordinate conversion– Standards, Specifications and Guidelines– IT, Outreach

Mission – Geospatial Activities are…

…those functions which seek to access the NSRS at one or more points at any accuracy, including (but not limited to) geodesy, surveying, remote sensing, mapping and charting.

Vision – Accuracy and Leadership

• Key visions, related to the Mission:

• “Define the NSRS…”– “The NSRS must be more accurate than all

activities which build upon it, while still being practicably achievable.”

• “Maintain the NSRS…”– NGS must track all of the temporal

changes to the defining points of the NSRS in such a way as to always maintain the accuracy in the NSRS definition.

Passive monumentation: Today

• Passive marks define (NAVD 88) and provide access to (NAVD 88 and NAD 83) the NSRS

• NAD 83 realizations:– CORS96 (active)– NSRS2007 (passive)

» Should’ve been the same…

– Projects are submitted to NGS for • Checking• Processing• Loading into the database• Coordinate assignment• Dissemination of coordinates to the public

Passive Monumentation: Future

• Pasive marks will not define the datums of the NSRS– They will provide secondary access to them

• Eventually, OPUS (DB) replaces “bluebooking”

– Instant results, shared with the public• Data files stored for future re-adjustments with other projects

– 2011(?): Bluebooking for GPS in NAD 83 goes away– 2015(?): Bluebooking for leveling in NAVD 88 goes away

• Sending data to NGS for loading into the database will no longer be equivalent to “my project is part of the NSRS”

– “Tied to the NSRS” replaces “Part of the NSRS”

• Nomenclature implies that NGS has not performed a hands-on check of your work

Passive Monumentation: Future

– As CORS and GNSS tools improve, need for passive marks may decrease

• But never approach “zero”

– “NSRS perimeter” will shrink and will not encompass most passive mark surveys submitted to NGS.

– Some exceptions• Absolute Gravity• Tide gauge and other GGOS sites• Airport control• Re-adjustments of OPUS submissions episodically

– Surveyors wishing to share their NSRS coordinates on a passive mark may do so, but NGS does not consider this a “defining point” of the NSRS

• Only survey marks. – No storage of mailbox coordinates on NGS computers.

Vision – Accuracy and Leadership (2)

• “Provide Access to the NSRS…”– Update Guidelines

• For various accuracies

– Coordinates and velocities• Including orthometric heights, shoreline,

gravity, geoid, deflection of the vertical, etc.– This isn’t just about , and h

Achieving the Vision – Five Technical Improvements

• In order to achieve the vision, these areas of emphasis must drive all future NGS activities:

– Modernize the Geometric Datum

– Modernize the Geopotential Datum

– Migrate the Coastal Mapping Program toward IOCM

– Evolve Core Capabilities

– Increase Agency Visibility

1) Modernize the Geometric Datum(Step 1: Build Tools and Capacity)

• Define the required CORS needed to accomplish the NGS mission (in a “minimally acceptable way”)

– Spacing, Monumentation, Signals, Constellations• Call this: “Foundation” CORS

– NGS to own or operate all foundation CORS sites– Monitored coordinates and velocities– Co-located with other geodetic observing systems (VLBI, SLR, LLR, Tide and Water

gages)• Contributing to GGOS, as part of GEOSS

• Strict responsibility for all other CORS sites will be on the site operators– Provide contact information for site operator– Minimal NGS resources by developing:

• Automated data collection and QC• Automated “suspension” from CORS for data or metadata problems

• OPUS-GNSS– All constellations, all signals, any number of receivers, any length of field data

collection, any computed accuracy• Automated results sharing via (what’s been called) “OPUS-DB” (but with as

little connection to the IDB, bluebook and datasheets as possible)

• By 2018, a replacement for NAD 83– Not “horizontal” but “geometric”– New name (call your state legislators now)– Geocentric!!!– Defined and monitored exclusively at CORS sites

• Connection to “stable” North American plate being resolved.

• Will go hand in hand with a new “geopotential” datum

1) Modernize the Geometric Datum(Step 2: Re-define the datum)

2) Modernize the Geopotential Datum(Step 1: Build Tools and Capacity)

• Develop better theory– Proof that perfect data can actually yield a <1 cm accurate gravimetric

geoid

• Collect and clean data– Consistent, up-to-date, and gapless gravity data set

• Only possible through GRAV-D– This will be the largest project to hit NGS since NAVD 88

– Epoch-tags and velocities• Absolute Gravity sites re-visited episodically to directly observe velocity

of gravity• Spot Gravity velocities modeled from absolute and satellite gravity

missions

• Clear Direction– Defining the North American vertical datum through GNSS and a gravimetric

geoid by 2018

• Official NGS policy as of Nov 14, 2007– Airborne gravity survey (10 years)– Gravity monitoring into the future– Coastal areas surveyed first– All USA states and territories– www.ngs.noaa.gov/GRAV-D

• 2018 Targets:– Orthometric heights good to 2 cm

anywhere, anytime from GNSS technology

– Height changes easily monitored using new vertical datum

GRAV-D

Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum

3) Migrate Coastal Mapping toward IOCM

• Improve Efficiency– Adoption of new tools

• LIDAR, Thermal Imagers, Digital Cameras

– Reduction of human subjectivity• Improves automation

• Complete VDatum– Integral for consistent tide-coordinated shoreline

• Migrate toward IOCM– Fully integrate NGS shoreline activities with other

NOAA coastal mapping

4) Evolve Core Capabilities

• Retrain and retool NGS workforce– Training– Succession Planning– Visiting Scientists / Sabbaticals

• Product oversight– Strong Products and Services Committee

• Always asking: “Is this part of the NGS mission?”

• Modernize tools– Transition to automated, web based tools– Improve or retire aging products and services

• Where is a simple, clean, up to date, all-purpose, all-datum transformation tool?

4) Evolve Core Capabilities (cont.)

• Outreach – Get Critical messages out now– New Datums by 2018

– Height Modernization means CORS, gravimetric geoid or local vertical studies.

• Installation of new passive marks only as part of the whole, not as the perpetual solution to a deteriorating vertical datum

5) Increase Agency Visibility

• Focus on what we do best: – Datums, Tools, Surveys, Guidelines, Coastline

– Do a few things best rather than a lot of things “so so”

– Increased outreach

– More interagency cooperation

– Broader publication record

10 year plan - Summary

• Strong Mission statement acting as a beacon

• Vision of the future based on improved leadership and deliverable accuracy

• Five technical improvements to move us forward

Status of Plan’s Milestones

• 2008 was a “transition year”

– Foundation CORS being defined

– GRAV-D begun ; funding / partners sought

– IOCM pilot projects

– Products and Services being examined:• Keep / Upgrade / Deactivate• OPUS-DB is live!

Questions/Comments?

• Dr. Dru Smith• Chief Geodesist, National Geodetic Survey

• Dru.Smith@noaa.gov• 301-713-3222 x 144