Over the last several years, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been undergoing a major project to modernize the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), which NGS defines as “ a consistent coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States.” The last time this kind of modernization effort took place was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but of course technology has evolved significantly since that time.
Throughout the course of this year, Geo Week News has been highlighting much of the work that is going into this modernization process, looking at the effort from a high level, zooming in on its effects on bathymetric surveying as well as the major effect GNSS advancements are having on the modernization, and how those in the know are preparing professionals for the modernization. Within that coverage, we have leaned not only on the expertise of those within NGS who are working on this effort on a daily basis, but also team members from the Geospatial Center for the Arctic and Pacific, who received a grant to assist with the effort.
Along those same lines, we are excited to host an upcoming webinar to dive more deeply into this modernization effort entitled Inside Look: Modernizing the National Spatial Reference System. The free webinar will take place on November 7 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern Time, and registrants will also have access to an on-demand recording as well as slides from the session’s presentation. The speakers for this webinar will be:
Chase Simpson, PLS - Assistant Professor of Practice in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Oregon State University
Dan Gillins, Ph.D, PLS - Chief of the Spatial Reference Systems Division, National Geodetic Survey
The goal for this webinar is to provide surveyors and others in the geospatial industry – including those who provide hardware and software for professionals – with the knowledge they need before adjusting to this modernized NSRS. Simpson and Gillins will start off the webinar by giving a presentation to outline the work being done in this process and some of the basic changes that will come through.
More importantly, though, we want to make sure this webinar answers as many questions as possible that will be on the minds of those who will be most affected by the modernization. To that end, we will save a significant portion of this webinar – at least half – for questions and answers from the audience. Geo Week News will be moderating the discussion and will have questions of our own to ask our speakers, but given how big of a deal this has the potential to be for many in the geospatial industry, we will prioritize your questions.
So, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments about this modernization process and want to ask people who have been directly involved in the effort, be sure to register for this webinar using the link below.
