Where Am I ?

Okay, maybe this is a story only knowledge nuts like me can appreciate. Whatever. It’s these kind of little-big details that make the world work.

Study: Economic Value of NOAA’s Geodetic Services at $2.4 Billion

”“For more than 200 years, surveyors, mapping professionals, engineers and many others have used the NSRS (National Spatial Reference System) as the foundation for establishing property boundaries, constructing buildings, roads, bridges and levees, creating accurate maps and charts, and much more,” said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA’s assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service. “The nation is literally built on this framework.” “

And in case you’re wondering, yes, it is tied into air traffic control.

”GPS also will soon supplant passive markers on the ground, which currently determine precise elevations under the North American Vertical Datum (NAVD88). “

If you want to know the height of an obstacle -- or an airport -- these markers provide the reference system.




By the way, I haven’t heard much about the FAA’s “Navigation Reference System”. (Please watch the video...for as long as you can stand it.) You know, the one that was part of High Altitude Redesign program. Somebody write me and tell me how that is going.

Don Brown
June 16, 2009