2006 Essential Guide to the National Geodetic Survey and the Global Positioning System: Mapping the Ionosphere, Federal Base Network, Technical Reference

This up-to-date electronic book on CD-ROM provides comprehensive information on the amazing work of the NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS). NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) defines and manages a national coordinate system. This network, the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), provides the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a multitude of scientific and engineering applications. Committed to making transportation and navigation safer, NGS conducts aerial photography surveys near airports in the United States and its possessions to position obstructions and aids to air travel. NGS also maps the coastal regions of the United States and provides data for navigational charts. NGS develops Federal standards for geodetic surveys and helps to coordinate surveying methods. NGS State Geodetic Advisors are stationed in several states to work with local communities to expand surveying capabilities.

In addition to the NGS material, there is extensive coverage of the GPS navigation system, which serves to guide everything from roadway motorists to cruise missiles with extreme accuracy. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio-navigation system consisting of a constellation of satellites and a network of ground stations used for monitoring and control. A minimum of 24 GPS satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 11,000 miles providing users with accurate information on position, velocity, and time anywhere in the world and in all weather conditions. There is excellent coverage of GPS and its uses, with information from many federal agencies.

The Office of National Geodetic Survey applies state-of-the-art methods of precise positioning and advanced geodetic, photogrammetric, and remote sensing techniques to establish and maintain a consistent national coordinate system and to support mapping, charting, navigation, boundary determination, property delineation, infrastructure development, resource evaluation surveys, and scientific applications. The Office establishes, preserves, and improves the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), which includes a horizontal datum, a vertical datum, a high resolution geoid model, and precise satellite orbits. The NSRS meets users' spatial control requirements through a hierarchy of monumented points and a network of Global Positioning System (GPS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). Through the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee (FGCS) of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), the Office exercises Government-wide leadership in the development and improvement of geodetic surveying specifications, methods, instrumentation, and data transfer. Some of the topics covered include:

Introduction to NGS * Aeronautical Survey Program * Federal Base * Network * GPS Orbit Data * Height Modernization Activities * Mapping The Ionosphere * National CORS Program * National Shoreline * National Spatial Reference System * State Advisor Program * Shallow Water Positioning System (SWaPS) Program * Vertical Datums