Milestones of the Survey

1807 Survey of the Coast founded by President Thomas Jefferson and placed under the Department of the Treasury; first superintendent, Ferdinand R. Hassler

1811-1815 Ferdinand Hassler procured books and instruments for the United States Survey of the Coast

1816-1817 First field work completed (triangulation), covering New York City area

1818-1832 Survey of the Coast placed in Navy Department and all work suspended

1830 Tide predictions begun in U.S.

1832 Survey transferred back to Treasury and work resumed

1834 First Survey map produced and first hydrography begun

1836 Name changed to U.S. Coast Survey, Navy and Army officers detailed to the Survey

1839 First Coast Survey nautical chart produced

1839 While conducting survey operations, the Coast Survey Brig USS Washington seized the Amistad, a schooner commandeered by the slaves seeking their freedom, in New York Harbor and escorts it to New London, CT.

1840's Heliotropes (mirrors) came into use for observing triangulation

1843 Ferdinand Hassler, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and America’s first professional full-time scientist passed away. Alexander Dallas Bache, a great grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was appointed second Superintendent of the Coast Survey.

1845 U.S. Coast Survey began systematic studies of Gulf Stream, first systematic oceanographic project for studying a specific phenomenon commenced by any government or organization. Physical oceanography, geological oceanography, biological oceanography, and chemical oceanography of the Gulf Stream and its environs were covered in the initial orders serving as a model for all subsequent integrated oceanographic cruises.

1847 First use of telegraph signals to transfer time for astronomic observations Method of least squares introduced.

1847 Naturalist Louis Agassiz sailed on Coast Survey Steamer BIBB to study fish and fauna of offshore New England area.

1849 U.S. Coast Survey conducted depth soundings in support of Gulf Stream investigations resulted in the discovery of the widespread nature of the continental shelf and slope.

1851 U.S. Coast Survey commissioned Louis Agassiz to conduct first scientific study of the Florida Reef system.

1853 First Tide Prediction Tables published. Louis F de Pourtales, of the U.S. Coast Survey, questions Forbes’ theory based on Coast Survey sounding operations that find indications of life in depths over 1000 fathoms. At the same time, irregularities were discovered in the topography off Charleston, South Carolina, leading to a theory that topography can influence the course and characteristics of the Gulf Stream.

1854 Tidal Division formed

1854 U.S. Coast Survey began using self-recording tide gauges. One installed at San Francisco began the longest continuous series of tide observations in the Western Hemisphere.

1854-1855 James McNeill Whistler employed by the U.S. Coast Survey as an engraver.

1857 James Madison Alden, commanding officer of the Coast Survey Steamer ACTIVE, discovered a deep submarine valley, or “gulch”, in the center of the Monterey Bay. Alden had discovered the first known sea-floor canyon, now called Monterey Canyon.

1860 10,000 charts produced

1861-65 U.S. Coast Survey served with Union Army and Navy in all theaters of the Civil War and with all major commanders. Coast Surveyors served as hydrographers, topographers, and scouts often times in advance of the front lines, In the Army, Coast Surveyors were given assimilated military rank while attached to a specific command.

1863 66,000 charts produced

1867 First U.S. Coast Survey Tide Tables published

1867-68 Louis F. de Pourtales conducted dredging operations from the Coast Survey Steamers CORWIN and BIBB off southern Florida in water depths to 517 fathoms, and found prolific life extending below 300 fathoms.

1871 President Ulysses S Grant signed a bill authorizing the Coast Survey to carry geodetic surveys into the interior of the U.S. and began the continental spanning survey of the 39th parallel.

1871-1896 Trans-Continental Arc survey undertaken following the 39th parallel

1872 Sir William Thomson invented an operational wire line sounding machine. Modifications of this machine ultimately replaced hemp-rope sounding methods. The wire line machines were faster to operate and significantly more accurate.

1872 Commander Philip C. Johnson and the Coast Survey Steamer HASSLER proceeded from the east to the west coast via the Straits of Magellan and attempted deep-ocean dredging and other deep-sea operations along the way. The expedition was led by the famous naturalist Louis Agassiz, accompanied by Louis de Pourtales. Unfortunately, the hemp dredge line was defective and broke on every deep dredging attempt. Although deep dredging operations failed, the cruise was generally successful; Louis Agassiz collected over 30,000 specimens of sea life.

1873 The Commission of Fish and Fisheries utilized the Coast Survey steamer Bache for the first deep water sampling and dredging cruises. This cooperative relationship continued for many years until the Fisheries Service obtained its own deep water steamers.

1874-77 The great naturalist John Muir is employed as guide and artist by Coast Survey on the survey of the 39th parallel across the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah.

1874-78 Commander Charles D. Sigsbee commanded the Coast Survey Steamer BLAKE. Silsbee modified the Thomson Sounding Machine and designed an instrument termed the Sigsbee Sounding Machine; this became the basic model for wire line sounding in the deep sea for the next 50 years. Accurate, high-density soundings led to the first modern bathymetric map. The BLAKE also pioneered deep ocean anchoring during Gulf Stream studies and was perhaps the most innovative oceanographic vessel of the Nineteenth Century.

1875 First Coast Pilot produced. First gravimetric observations in U.S.

1878 Agency name changed to U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey. Longest line of triangulation ever observed, 192 miles from MT SHASTA to MT HELENA, also observed to MT LOLA, 169 miles away

1880's Separate reconnaissance parties formed to plan triangulation. Selenotropes used to make angle observations at night (device reflected moon rays using mirrors up to 10 inches in diameter)

1885 William Ferrel’s Maxima and Minima Tide Predictor introduced.

1885 The Coast and Geodetic Survey Steamer BLAKE, under Commander John Elliott Pillsbury, pioneered deep-ocean anchoring techniques during Gulf Stream studies. The BLAKE was reported to have anchored in 2200 fathoms.

1889 Eastern Oblique Arc of Triangulation completed from the Bay of Fundy to New Orleans

1890 First U.S.C&GS predicted Tidal Current Tables published. West Coast Arc of triangulation completed. Tidal current predictions begin for New York harbor and vicinity

1896 Transcontinental Arc of triangulation completed

1898 After Spanish-American War, Naval officers withdrawn from U.S. C&GS not to return (Army officers did not serve after the Civil War)

1899 Coast and Geodetic Survey opened field office in Seattle, WA, to support ships and survey field expeditions; future Pacific Marine Center.

1900 First U.S.C&GS survey disk set (approx.)

1901 National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) established from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Office of Weights and Measures.

1901 U.S. Standard Datum created

1902 Morse code used to communicate between observing parties

1902 Acetylene lamps came into use for observing triangulation, thereafter all primary observations were made at night; automobile headlights began use a few years later

1903 U.S.C&GS transferred to the Commerce & Labor Department

1905 First published specifications for making horizontal angle observations

1906 All bases for triangulation measured with invar tapes

1907 Line of spirit levels across the United States completed

1912 128,000 individual charts produced per year Harris-Fischer Tide Prediction Machine introduced

1912 April 15, the White Star Liner TITANIC sank with horrendous loss of life after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean. This led to a concerted effort to devise an acoustic means of discovering objects in the water forward of the bow of a moving vessel.

1913 U.S.C&GS moved to Department of Commerce. U.S. Standard Datum renamed North American Datum. C&GS purchased first motor vehicle from the White Motor Co. (30HP, top speed 25 MPH)

1914 On April 27, Reginald Fessenden, of Submarine Signal Co, sailed on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter MIAMI. He used a Fessenden Oscillator to reflect a signal off an iceberg and simultaneously reflect an acoustic signal off the sea bottom. This test marked the beginning of the acoustic exploration of the sea.

1916 President Woodrow Wilson was the keynote speaker at 100th anniversary of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

1917 U.S. entered WWI. Commissioned Officers Corps created from field corps of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; that organization was the forerunner of NOAA Corps. Half of commissioned officer service transferred to Armed Services, ships SURVEYOR and BACHE transferred to Navy.

1917-19 WWI accelerated oceanic acoustic research as both the U.S. Navy and the Army Coast Artillery developed research programs to devise means to detect enemy submarines.

1918 237,000 charts per year

1919 French scientists succeeded in running the first line of sounding obtained from an acoustic echo sounder.

1919 First Coastal Mapping aerial photography (Atlantic City, NJ)

WWI Five C&GS ships served in war, SURVEYOR disabled U-Boat that had sunk LUSITANIA

1921 Two reference marks were specified for each triangulation station (1915’s SP#26 had required at least one reference mark, 1921 Second Ed required two)

1920 First Photographic Bathymetry attempt

1922 Sounding tube invented (for simplifying the measurement of water depth)

1922 Photogrammetry Unit Established

1923 Survey baseline established (20.9 miles long), accurate to 1:11,000,000, used by Albert A. Michelson in determining the speed of light

1923-24 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey began use of acoustic sounding systems. U.S. C&GS conducts and develops the first RAR navigation operations on the West Coast. This is the first navigation system capable of round the clock operation in all weather conditions, and doesn’t require navigations to see a recognizable landmark or a celestial object to position a vessel. It was a major step on the road to modern electronic navigation systems, oceanic seismic refraction and reflection profiling, and the development of telemetering oceanographic instruments.

1925 First, Second, and Third-Orders of accuracy adopted by the Federal Board of Surveys and Maps

1925-39 The Coast and Geodetic Survey conducted systematic track lines across the Gulf of Alaska, discovering numerous seamounts, including the flat-topped variety that Harry Hess later terms guyots. Systematic C&GS surveys of the continental shelf and slope led to the discovery of the Mendocino Escarpment, which H.W. Menard later shows to be part of a great system of Pacific fracture zones; delineation of the basin and range topography of Southern California’s continental borderlands; the discovery of California seamounts such as Davidson, Pioneer and Guide; and the discovery of many East Coast canyons, particularly in the Georges Bank and Mid-Atlantic areas.

1926 Airway mapping began

1926 The Air Commerce Act directs the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to begin charting the Nation’s airways and directs the Weather Bureau to provide weather services to civilian aviation. The fire weather service was formally inaugurated when Congress provided funds for seven fire weather districts.

1927 North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27) is created. Bilby Survey Tower designed by Jasper Bilby, a USC&GS Employee, is first used. First USC&GS aeronautical chart published, Kansas City to Moline, IL. Azimuth mark specified for each triangulation station.

1928 Continuous, systematic photogrammetric mapping begun

1929 NGVD 29 established

1929 Mean Sea Level Datum of 1929 created. Echo sounding (for depth measurement) became routine procedure

1930's A huge increase in funds for public works resulted in C&GS having more than 1000 employees in the field

1931 Electronic positioning developed (for locating hydrographic vessel)

1932 NAD 27 Completed

1933 Coast and Geodetic Survey opened ship base in Norfolk, Virginia.

1934 State Plane Coordinate System developed by U.S.C&GS

1934 Meeting at Captain O.S. Reading’s house resulted in formation of American Society of Photogrammetry

1934-37 During the height of the Depression, Coast and Geodetic Survey organizes surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 including many out-of-work engineers.

1935 Nine-lens aerial mapping camera (designed by C&GSs Captain Reading) delivered

1935 Development of automatic sono-radio buoy

1935 Researchers at the Coast and Geodetic Survey invented an automatic telemetering radio sono-buoy. This instrument eliminated the need for manned station ships during RAR navigation operations. This was perhaps the first offshore moored telemetering instrument.

1938 Lieutenant Elliott B Roberts, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, developed the Roberts Radio Current Meter. This instrument was possibly the first automatic moored telemetering instrument to measure a physical oceanographic parameter.

1939 Coast and Geodetic Survey began war mapping efforts and gearing up for entrance into World War II.

1939 The American Geophysical Union establishes the Bowie Medal, its highest honor, named for Captain William Bowie of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for his “spirit of helpfulness and friendliness in unselfish cooperative research.” Bowie was the first president of AGU (1920-1922) and served again from 1929-1933, the only person to hold this position twice. He was the first recipient of the medal.

1940 Number of horizontal points over 100,000

1941-45 WWII. Technical capabilities of the Coast and Geodetic Survey are devoted completely to the war effort.

1941 First U.S.C&GS Pilot trained.

1942-45 The Coast and Geodetic Survey sent over 1000 civilian members and over half of its commissioned officers to the military serviced. Coast Surveyors served as hydrographers, artillery surveyors, cartographers, army engineers, intelligence officers and geophysicists in all theaters of the war, civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the Allied forces. Eleven members of the U.S. C&GS gave their lives during WWII.

1944 2,000,000 copies of target charts produced

1944 The decision to invade Normandy on June 6th was based on weather forecasts, which indicated the correct combination of tides and winds.

1945 First C&GS Test of color and infrared film

1945 First fallout forecast for the Trinity nuclear explosion at Alamagordo, NM. Coast and Geodetic Survey seismologists monitored air and ground vibrations from Trinity explosion.

1945 21, 200,000 charts produced. U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey adapts “Gee” aerial bombardment electronic navigation system to hydrographic surveying, renaming it “Shoran” and helping to usher in the era of marine electronic navigation. In this year the C&GS conducts its first hydrographic surveys using shoran.

WWII Six of the nine U.S.C&GS ships served in WWII. PATHFINDER took kamikaze hit and NOAA ship RESEARCHER took two hits and was beached and scuttled at Batman. Triangulation completed from Skagway to Fairbanks, Alaska. Walt Disney Inc. designs eagle with sextant logo for U.S.C&GS

1946 Airport Obstructions Chart (OC) program begun for FAA

1946 First C&GS use of a computer to do a least squares adjustment

1946 First Least Squares adjustment of triangulation using a computer

1947 Surplus B-17 Bomber used for aerial photography with nine-lens camera

1948 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey established Pacific Tsunami Warning System.

1952 Wild T-3 Theodolite replaces Parkhurst in C&GS. Worden gravity meter adopted by C&GS for differential measurements

1953 C&GS obtained its first Electronic Distance Measuring Instrument (EDMI), a Model 1 Geodimeter (the instrument weighed over 300 pounds)

1955 The Coast and Geodetic Survey Ship PIONEER in a joint project with the U.S. Navy and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography tows the first marine magnetometer and discovers magnetic stripping on the seafloor off the west coast of the U.S. called the PIONEER survey. This survey was called one of the most significant geophysical surveys ever conducted as it provided a key element to the Theory of Plate Tectonics.

1956 C&GS purchases Wild RD-8 camera, first of this model in U.S. First C&GS tide-coordinated aerial photography (using IR film)

1957 First aerial photographic mission solely under C&GS control (formerly U.S. Coast Guard had assisted with aircraft and pilots)

1957 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey celebrated 150 years since President Thomas Jefferson signed law authorizing Survey of the Coast. President Dwight D Eisenhower addresses Secretary of Commerce and distinguished guests as the keynote speaker at the 150th Anniversary Gala.

1958 Last taped Base Line measured near Salmon, ID, this ended a 140 period of measuring base lines with various mechanical apparatus. Color aerial photography used for photo bathymetry

1959 First current surveys using photogrammetry

1960 Wild T-4 theodolite for astronomic observations replaced Bambergs Field units equipped with radios for two-way communication

1961-1976 Transcontinental Traverse (TCT) conducted to improve the scale of the network for the space program with an accuracy of 1:1,000,000

1963 The first operational multibeam sounding system was installed on the USS COMPASS ISLAND. This system, and other multibeam sounding systems that have evolved since, observe a number of soundings to the left and right of a ship’s head as well as vertically allowing the development of a relatively accurate map of the seafloor as the ship proceeds on a survey line.

1964 Major response to Good Friday Alaska Earthquake

1965 U.S.C&GS placed in newly formed Environmental Sciences Service Administration (ESSA). First C&GS use of steel rods (with disks attached) driven to refusal.

1965 Last year Harris-Fischer Tide Prediction Machine used, Analog-to-digital recorder(ADR) tide gauges and computer processing introduced

1966-1973 Satellite Triangulation network was observed world-wide to 5 meter accuracy and a Balistic Camera world-wide survey was conducted

1967 Modern spirit level and rods replaced old Fischer level (in use from 1899) and C&GS designed invar rods (1916). First C&GS owned photographic aircraft entered service

1970 NOAA formed and C&GS reorganized into National Ocean Survey, and National Geodetic Survey created from geodesy portion of C&GS

1970's Employee George B. Lesley installed a 10 mille watt laser in an EDMI, creating “Big Red”, able to routinely measure distances in excess of 50 miles

1970's NGS designed, acquired and used a truck mounted observing tower, and trailer-mounted and telescoping “Swedish Poles” to show lights and mirrors

1970's Use of Very Long Base Line Interferometry (VLBI) used extraterrestrial radio signal sources to determine very accurate distances and azimuths over continental distances.

1971 Use of U.S. Navy TRANSIT satellites, using the Doppler principle, with results accurate to about one meter in each component

1972 NOAA Corps became first uniformed service to recruit women on the same basis as men.

1973 NGS established first EDMI Calibration Baseline in Liverpool, NY. Mean Sea Level Datum of 1929 renamed National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NAVD 29) Established National Tidal Datum Epoch

1974-86 Official start of North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) which included computerization of all survey records and largest least squares adjustment ever done

1975-1991 North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88)

1977 Leveling field work accelerated for new adjustment

1977 NOAA Ship Davidson first uses multi-beam sonar for mapping the U.S. Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ), rapidly improving quantitative means of collecting bathymetric data.

1978 - Inertial Positioning Systems tested by NGS and used for several projects. - High Precision Photogrammetry employed in Ada County, Idaho producing second-order, class II accuracy.

1978 First Operation Photogrammetric Geodesy

1979 Research begun on Global Positioning Systems usage for geodesy.

1981 Although first employed aboard the U.S. C&GS Ship Surveyor in the mid-1960s, side-scan sonar technology was routinely used for the first time aboard the NOAA Ships Rude and Heck as a qualitative means of obtaining hydrographic data. The sonar images greatly improved the hydrographers’ ability to detect and analyze objects on the seafloor and paced the way for the crisp photograph-like images produced by side-scan sonars of today.

1982 Charting & Geodetic Services office created under National Ocean Service

1983 - National Ocean Survey name changed to National Ocean Service. - First NGS use of Global Positioning System (GPS)

1984 Last Bilby Tower triangulation survey completed at station BILBY in CT

1985-1989 Airport Datum Monumentation (ADAM) program conducted

1985 Although the Global Positioning System was primarily conceived as a navigation system for the military, during the mid 1980’s, researchers at the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) developed techniques and software which expanded GPS into a surveying and kinematics positioning system of the highest order revolutionizing many aspects of surveying and the national transportation infrastructure.

1986 NAD 83 completed and published

1987 First GPS High Accuracy Reference Network Observed (Tennessee)

1989 NAD 83 approved for federal surveying and mapping activities

1989 First NGS use of airborne kinematic GPS

1991 - North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) completed & published. - The Office of Charting and Geodetic Services was renamed to its former 1878 name the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

1991 CO-OPS established first PORTS in Tampa Bay.

1992 Horizontal Time Dependent Positioning utility operational

1993 North American Vertical Datum of 1988 approved for geodesy

1994 Under the U.S. Government’s streamlining process, C&GS was disestablished, but its former subordinate divisions were elevated to the status of Office under the National Ocean Service. Thus the former Nautical Charting Division became the present Office of the Coast Survey (OCS), while the geodetic functions became the National Geodetic Survey, and the tides and currents division became the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS).

1994 First Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS)

1994 Office of Coast Survey started to produce and distribute official Raster Nautical Charts

1994 NGS Data sheets available on the web

1994 Airport Navigations Approach (ANA) program begun

1995 Last Year of Tide Table and Tidal Current Table publication in hard copy by CO-OPS, NOS, NOAA. Partial tide prediction provided on telephone bulletin board.

1996 First Hybrid Geoid Model Developed by NGS

1996 NOAA Ship Rude completes first hydrographic survey using shallow-water multi-beam sonar in support of NOAA’s Nautical Charting mission The application of shallow water, multi-beam sonar technology revolutionized hydrographic surveying.

1996 CO-OPS tide and tidal current predictions begun exclusively on Internet and CDs. Private publishers provided CO-OPS predictions for various tide and tidal current publications. CO-OPS predictions provided to National Imagery and Mapping Agency for publishing in hard copy for U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, etc.

1997 NGS published first Height Modernization Guidelines

1997 Last field observations for High Accuracy Reference Network completed (Indiana) in Sept. U.S. completely resurveyed with GPS

1999 - Office of Coast Survey starts to produce and distribute Print-On-Demand Charts allowing mariners to get up-dated navigation information weekly - Office of Coast Survey established Navigation Response Teams to provide rapid response capabilities in support of safe navigation

2001 - NGS’ On-line Positioning User Service (OPUS) established - Office of Coast Survey Navigation Manager Program established. - Office of Coast Survey Navigation Managers established as regional liaisons in the field.

2003 Federal Base Network completed; state-by-state GPS surveys to upgrade vertical accuracy

2004 CO-OPS celebrates 150th Anniversary of establishment of San Francisco tide gauge (est. June 30, 1854)

2004 Air Gap sensor goes operational, allowing larger vessels to transit waterways by taking the measurement of the distance between the low steel of bridges and water’s surface.

2005 Hurricane Katrina and the “One-NOAA response”

2005 NowCOAST web site initiated by Office of Coast Survey

2007 Readjustment of horizontal network (all stations occupied with GPS) NAD 83 (NSRS 2007).

2007 NGS begins GRAV-D project, a ten year plan to measure gravity across the U.S. and redefine the vertical datum.

2007 Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the “Survey of the Coast”