[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 143 (Friday, July 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 44864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16068]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Upcoming Changes to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS)
AGENCY: The Office of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), National
Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC).
ACTION: Notice of upcoming changes.
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SUMMARY: The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is in the process of
modernizing the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) and plans to
replace all three North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) frames and all
vertical datums, including the North American Vertical Datum of 1988
(NAVD 88), with four new terrestrial reference frames and one new
geopotential datum to which all geodetic coordinates and derived
coordinates within the NSRS will be referenced. The new reference
frames will rely primarily on Global Navigation Satellite Systems
(GNSS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as on a
gravimetric geoid model resulting from the Gravity for the Redefinition
of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) Project. The modernized NSRS
will be easier to access and maintain than the existing NSRS, which
relies on physical survey marks that deteriorate over time and will
result in new, more accurate, time-tagged geodetic coordinates (i.e.,
latitude, longitude, ellipsoid height, orthometric height, acceleration
of gravity, deflections of the vertical, and others) at all geodetic
control points within the NSRS. Additionally, coordinates will be
estimated within these frames and datum at five-year reference epochs
from the time-tagged coordinates, beginning with 2020.00. Initial
completion and rollout of the NSRS modernization is expected to occur
between 2022 and 2025, with additional support tools and services
rolled out in subsequent years.
DATES: The modernization of the NSRS will occur between 2022 and 2025,
with the release of additional tools and services occurring between 3
and 5 years later.
ADDRESSES: National Geodetic Survey, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver
Spring, MD 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dru Smith, NSRS Modernization
Manager, by email at [email protected], phone at (240) 533-9654, or
mail at NOAA/NOS/NGS 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The modernization of the NSRS is designed to
improve the accuracy of federal geodetic control. For over 200 years,
NGS and its predecessor agencies, dating back to the founding of the
Survey of the Coast in 1807, have been the stewards of the geodetic
infrastructure--the NSRS--of the United States. As technology and
scientific knowledge advance, NGS occasionally modernizes the NSRS.
This announcement reflects part of the latest modernization effort.
The last significant modernization of the NSRS resulted in the
creation of the original North American Datum of 1983 (54 FR 25318) and
the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (58 FR 34245). These datums
were defined before the widespread use of GPS and GNSS and were
determined using classical geodetic measurement techniques. Over the
years, minor corrections to and expansion of the NSRS occurred;
however, no significant update was possible until now. Through modern
geodetic surveying technology, extensive data collection initiatives,
and advances in scientific knowledge, a more accurate, modern NSRS is
possible. The new frames and datum shall be known as the ``North
American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022,'' the ``Pacific
Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022,'' the ``Caribbean Terrestrial
Reference Frame of 2022,'' the ``Mariana Terrestrial Reference Frame of
2022,'' and the ``North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022;''
and may be referred to as ``NATRF2022,'' ``PATRF2022,'' ``CATRF2022,''
``MATRF2022,'' and ``NAPGD2022,'' respectively. In order to accustom
users to a time-dependent NSRS, NGS will also be estimating, and
providing to the public, coordinates on geodetic control points at
five-year reference epochs.
Additional information regarding the modernization of the NSRS may
be found at https://geodesy.noaa.gov/datums/newdatums/index.shtml.
Authority: Coast and Geodetic Survey Act of 1947, 33 U.S.C. 883a
et seq.
Juliana P. Blackwell,
Director, National Geodetic Survey, National Ocean Service, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-16068 Filed 7-23-20; 8:45 am]
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