With 2024 in the books and 2025 just underway, it figures to be another big year for the surveying industry. New and improved tools and techniques will surely pop up throughout the year that will dominate conversations at this time next year, and there will be stories we follow throughout the coming year. One of those will surely be a story that we followed closely throughout 2024 at Geo Week News: The modernization of the National Spatial Reference System.
This major undertaking has been years – decades, even – in the making, with work from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) in some ways going back to the last change to the NSRS in the early 1990s. Now, the modernized NSRS will take greater advantage of GNSS technology that became widely available about 30 years ago, with beta versions of the system going live this year and the full change expected at some point in 2026. Over the course of last year, we have covered this change from all angles, speaking with representatives from NGS as well as the Geospatial Center for the Arctic and Pacific (GCAP), who received a grant to help NGS with this work.
Although Geo Week News will certainly not be stopping our coverage and updates on the progress with this work – and there will be multiple sessions highlighting the modernized NSRS at Geo Week 2025 in February – the changing of the calendar makes this an ideal time to look back at all of our coverage of this work so far. Find links to the full articles from throughout 2024 below.
Inside the Effort to Modernize the National Spatial Reference System - A look from a high level at the changes coming with this modernized effort.
How the Effort to Modernize the National Spatial Reference System Affects Bathymetric Surveying - This article focuses specifically on bathymetric surveying and how these workflows will change with the modernized NSRS.
The Central Place of GNSS in the Effort to Modernize the National Spatial Reference System - Diving deep into the ways that GNSS play a central role in this effort.
The Geospatial Industry Is Getting Ready for the Modernized National Spatial Reference System - For this article we look at how professionals who will be affected by this change are getting ready for the shift.
How Industry Experts are Preparing Professionals for the Modernization of the National Spatial Reference System - We follow a similar theme for this article, but speaking with those involved with NGS and GCAP.
Recent Webinar Dives into Everything Around Modernized National Spatial Reference System - A recap of a Geo Week News-hosted webinar from those in the know. Get your free recording of the full webinar here.
How NGS and GCAP are Working to Get the Word Out Around the Modernized NSRS - Finally, we just recently highlighted the work being done to make sure the industry is aware of these coming changes.
