HEIGHT
MODERNIZATION COORDINATION MEETING
Meeting
Notes
Tuesday,
February 8, 2005
Purpose: To exchange information and provide an update
on Height Modernization activities, events, and issues
Update on past month’s
activities/action items
Juliana Blackwell
1.
Add Grants link and/or info to Height
Mod webpage (No action)
2.
Add Gravity/Geoid link and/or info
to Height Mod webpage (In progress)
3.
Add Height Modernization Survey Station
tag to datasheets (Done)
[NGS Datasheet Retrieval program will allow for the selection of “GPS
Height Mod Station” as well as “Wisconsin Height Mod Station” from the “Data Type Desired” pull-down menu.]
4.
Check on North
Carolina tidal leveling status
(No action) – Juliana
will check on this by next week.
[*Post-meeting update: February 14 - NGS is working on the last NC tide level line. All others have been processed. Gary Thompson was notified. Action item completed.]
Leveling
software update
Frank Mowry
- Texas A&M Corpus Christi is interested in working on
leveling software. Frank proposes
that interested parties meet during the American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping (ACSM) conference to discuss.
- At this point in time, all leveling
data must be submitted to NGS for adjustment.
- Frank Mowry will look into the
software development efforts for the USGS 3rd order benchmark
ties.
So you want to use Height Mod stations for vertical
control? Dale Pursell
Pros?
Cons? Needs? Implementation?
- In response to emails requesting
NGS allow GPS Height Modernization Survey Stations be used as vertical control,
an informal in-house group was formed to discuss necessary software requirements
and potential impact on the NGS database to support this proposal.
Consensus was that GPS Height Mod stations would be allowed, but
clarification would be needed to show accuracy – 2 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, etc.,
in the NGS database. The group plans to present their findings
to the Executive Steering Committee in March.
- Caution: Be careful when coding the orthometric
heights in the B-file (*86* record, column 24) for Height Mod projects submitted
to NGS. If the orthometric height
code is a “K,” the new GPS-derived orthometric height will supersede previous
heights established with leveling. If the ortho height established through
leveling is being used as control, the ortho code should be an “A” or “B.”
- If you are aware of Height Modernization
Survey Stations with incorrect heights, please contact Maralyn Vorhauer
(Maralyn.Vorhauer@noaa.gov).
Education and Outreach…What’s going on? All
- “Spatial
Reference Centers, Implementing the National Spatial Reference System – A
Panel Discussion”
is scheduled for Monday, March 21 from 10:30 AM–
12:00 PM
at the ACSM conference in Las Vegas. Please contact Greg Helmer ( gahelmer@rbf.com
) if you are interested in participating.
- GPS Users group started in Colorado. (Pam Fromhertz)
- Real-Time Kinematic Symposium
was held February 4 in Irvine, CA. Eighty people attended. CSRC is considering a National RTK Symposium
for next year.
- The states of Missouri and New Jersey are interested in holding Height
Mod forums/workshops to educate surveyors and managers about Height Modernization.
Missouri Society of Professional Surveyors annual meeting and Height
Mod workshop will be held September 22-24.
- General Height Modernization
Overview PowerPoint presentation is nearly complete. The goal is to have an up-to-date, consistent
presentation (with notes) available for outreach efforts. (Juliana Blackwell)
- POSNAV LV equipment on “Gyro”
truck in need of a firmware update. (Gary Thompson)
- North Carolina A&T State University interested in holding another
Height Modernization Workshop. The
proposed curriculum consists of a basic Height Mod workshop and an advanced
session to include GPS data processing with PAGE-NT.
- GPS data from coastal Louisiana project has been processed
and adjusted by Kurt Shinkle. Kurt
is waiting for NGS HQ to review and respond.
- LSRC to host Geospatial
Data Exchange Expo on May 10 - 11 for users of GIS data. (Dr. Roy Dokka)
Dr. Dokka is working on transferring LIDAR data to SLOSH models.
- Week of May 16th
– Height Modernization Forum planned in Tampa, FL. (Ronnie Taylor)
- June 8 – 11 – North American
Surveying and Mapping Educators Conference at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, TX. (Dr. Gary Jeffress)
Action items:
1.
Add
Grants link and/or info to Height Mod webpage (In progress)
2.
Add
Gravity/Geoid link and/or info to Height Mod webpage (In progress)
3.
Update
firmware on POSNAV LV
system (Kendall Fancher)
4.
Form
panel for Spatial
Reference
Center
discussion at ACSM (Greg Helmer)
5.
Finish
General Height Mod Presentation (Juliana Blackwell/Nancy Doyle)
6.
Complete
Louisiana
GPS projects (Kurt Shinkle, et al)
Next meeting will
be held Tuesday,
March 8, 2005 at 1:00 PM Eastern
Time.