Alaska Height Modernization
Overview | Accomplishments | Regional Activities | Program Details | Contacts
Program Overview
Mount McKinley in Denali National Park. Photo: Renee Shields, NOAA.
Alaska is more geologically active than many other regions of the continental US because of the plate tectonics occurring by the collision of the North American plate with the Pacific Plate. Accurate heights are important to surveyors, but they also have bearing on FEMA flood maps, USGS, geologists, aviation and tidal studies.
Accomplishments
Alaska is in the forefront of the development of a new gravimetric geoid, part of the Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) survey project. Large areas of Alaska have been flown to collect of gravity data in 2008-2011.
Regional Activities
The Arctic presents unique challenges and extremes in weather and temperature that require NOAA to adapt critical geospatial infrastructure to operate in these conditions. For this reason, NOAA is presently conducting gravity collection and modeling efforts as well as working to expand coverage from the Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network and National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON).
Program Details
Alaska State Geo-Spatial Data Clearinghouse
Contact Information
Alaska Department of Transportation
Web page
For additional inquiries, contact the State Geodetic Advisor Program or the National Height Modernization Program directly. State geodetic advisors serve as liaisons between NOAA and regional or state organizations.
