Government Connection
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NOAA Revamps Positioning Agency, Continues Spill Role
The National Geodetic Survey, which is responsible for officially determining the exact latitude, longitude and elevation of points on the planet, is in the midst of a modernization program that seeks to keep up with changes in GPS and related technologies. The agency is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the latest modernization effort is being viewed as critical for activities that require accurate positioning information. Ultimately, the results of the modernization effort should touch on activities ranging from levee construction projects to the design of hurricane evacuation routes and sea-level forecasting. Central to the revamp is the National Spatial Reference System, which, in its updated form, should do a better job of tying in newer technologies. Agency officials say the improvements will allow for a system that better tracks changes in position and elevation over time, helping to improve and update digital maps. A 2009 independent socioeconomic study commissioned by NOAA pegged the estimated value of the modernization efforts at $4.8 billion during the next 15 years. That figure includes $2.2 billion in avoidance costs from improved floodplain management. “An improved vertical datum means elevation measurements will become more accurate and less expensive, helping the National Flood Insurance Program to reduce the impacts and losses caused by flooding,” said Paul Rooney, a mapping technology specialist at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Two groups of mapping authorities will be affected by the changes: civilian federal-government authorities and state/municipal governments using the National Spatial Reference System. In May 2010, a Federal Geospatial Summit held at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., served as a kickoff for discussing proposed changes with users. “The reference frame in the past was hampered by being held static in time on an Earth that is constantly changing,” said Juliana Blackwell, director of NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey. “The new methodologies better capture changes, such as subsidence or sea-level rise, and the improved points of reference benefit everyone using positioning data for the foundation of their work.” Use of the modernized system should remain relatively easy. The system will let users calculate positions using a survey-grade GPS receiver, in conjunction with a scientific model of Earth’s gravity field. Elsewhere at NOAA, the agency has remained actively involved in monitoring and responding to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson undertook a mission to deploy U.S. Navy ocean-monitoring instruments near the spill. The instruments—in the form of floats, drifters and gliders—are designed to help researchers monitor surface and deep currents that have been distributing the oil. Research involves looking at the major current known as the Loop Current, which can spread the oil to a greater area. “NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson’s mission will add significantly to the growing body of information NOAA is gathering on the Gulf of Mexico’s dynamic environment in collaboration with our federal agency and university partners,” said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator. The Naval Oceanographic Office, located at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., operates the instrumented drifters, gliders and floats in support of the Navy operation. Collected data are shared with scientists and can help improve the accuracy of circulation models in the Gulf of Mexico.
A photo shows a NOAA glider being deployed, one of several sensor platforms being used to study the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current.
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