Height Modernization

The National Height Modernization Program enables access to accurate, reliable, and consistent heights. Elevation information contributes to informed decision making and impacts a wide range of important activities including mapping and charting, flood risk determination, transportation, land use and ecosystem management.

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.

In The News

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.

Read more news items in our News Archive.

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