U.S. National Geodetic Survey: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|U.S. federal surveying and mapping agency}} |
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:''"United States Coast Survey" and "United States Coast and Geodetic Survey" redirect here. They are former scientific agencies of the United States government which should not be confused with the [[United States Coast Guard]], a seagoing U.S. government law enforcement and safety agency, or the modern [[Coast Survey]], a U.S. government agency that makes nautical charts.'' |
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{{Distinguish|Office of Coast Survey|National Ocean Service|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey|United States Geological Survey}} |
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[[File:DarienCTUSCoastAndGeodeticSurvey1965Marker11042007.jpg|thumb|right|Closeup of a United States Coast and Geodetic Survey marker embedded in a large rock in front of the Noroton Volunteer Fire Department in [[Darien, Connecticut|Darien]], [[Connecticut]].]] |
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{{Use American English|date=July 2022}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} |
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The '''National Geodetic Survey''' ('''NGS''') |
The '''National Geodetic Survey''' ('''NGS''') is a [[List of federal agencies in the United States|United States federal agency]] based in [[Washington, D.C.]] that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication, mapping and charting, and a large number of science and engineering applications. Since its founding in 1970, it has been part of the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA), a division within the [[United States Department of Commerce]]. |
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[[File:DarienCTUSCoastAndGeodeticSurvey1965Marker11042007.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Closeup of a United States Coast and Geodetic Survey marker embedded in a large rock in front of the Noroton Volunteer Fire Department in [[Darien, Connecticut|Darien]], [[Connecticut]]]] |
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The National Geodetic Survey{{'}}s history and heritage are intertwined with those of other NOAA offices. As the U.S. Coast Survey and U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the agency operated a fleet of [[survey ship]]s, and from 1917 the Coast and Geodetic Survey was one of the uniformed services of the United States with its own corps of [[commissioned officer]]s. Upon the creation of the [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] (ESSA) in 1965, the commissioned corps was separated from the Survey to become the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps (or "ESSA Corps"). Upon the creation of NOAA in 1970, the ESSA Corps became the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps]] (or "NOAA Corps"); the operation of ships was transferred to the new [[NOAA ships and aircraft|NOAA fleet]]; [[Geodesy|geodetic]] responsibilities were placed under the new National Geodetic Survey; and [[hydrographic survey]] duties came under the cognizance of NOAA{{'}}s new Office of Coast Survey. Thus, the National Geodetic Survey{{'}}s ancestor organizations are also the ancestors of today{{'}}s NOAA Corps and Office of Coast Survey and are among the ancestors of today{{'}}s NOAA fleet. In addition, today{{'}}s [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], although long since separated from the Survey, got its start as the Survey{{'}}s Office of Weights and Measures. |
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[[File:Geodeticsurveypicwickenburg.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A survey marker in [[Wickenburg, Arizona|Wickenburg]], [[Arizona]]]] |
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[[File:East_Falls_Church_Station_survey_marker.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A metro survey marker at [[East Falls Church station]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]], [[Virginia]]]] |
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==Purpose and function== |
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The National Geodetic Survey maintains the [http://geodesy.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/NSRSOnePager.pdf National Spatial Reference System] (NSRS), "a consistent coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geodesy.noaa.gov/INFO/WhatWeDo.shtml|work=National Geodetic Survey Website|accessdate=27 May 2013|title=National Geodetic Survey – What We Do}}</ref> NGS is responsible for defining the NSRS and its relationship with the [[International Terrestrial Reference Frame]]. NGS is a program office of the [[National Ocean Service]], a line office of [[NOAA]]. |
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===Current projects=== |
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{{external links|section|date=March 2016}} |
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* '''[[Continuously Operating Reference Station]] (CORS)''' GPS reference antennas to enable precise positioning |
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* '''[[Height Modernization]]''' |
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* '''[http://geodesy.noaa.gov/GRAV-D/ Gravity for the Redefinition of the Vertical Datum (GRAV-D)]''' An airborne gravimetric survey of the United States and its territories to measure the [[geoid]] and re-establish the height component of the NSRS |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/AeroProgram.pdf Aeronautical Survey Program]''' Provides the precise locations of airports, runways and navigational aids in the United States to enable safe aerial navigation |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/web/science_edu/ecosystems_climate/ Ecosystem and Climate Operations (ECO) Program]''' |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/OPUSOnePager.pdf Online Positioning and User Service (OPUS)]''' An online tool for obtaining NSRS-referenced positions from geodetic GPS data |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/VDatum.pdf Vertical Datum Transformation tool (Vdatum)]''' |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/Orbit_Data.pdf GPS Orbits]''' |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/Shoreline.pdf Shoreline mapping]''' |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/StateAdvisor.pdf State geodetic advisor program]''' |
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* '''[http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/OnePagers/EmergencyResponseImageryOnePager.pdf Emergency response imagery]''' NGS rapidly provides aerial imagery of regions affected by natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies to enable emergency managers and members of the public to assess damage |
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==History== |
==History== |
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{{See|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey}} |
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===Earliest years=== |
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[[Image:US-NOAA-200thLogo.svg|right|thumb|Logo celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States Survey of the Coast]] |
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The original predecessor agency of the National Geodetic Survey was the '''United States Survey of the Coast''', created within the [[United States Department of the Treasury]] by an [[Act of Congress]] on February 10, 1807, to conduct a "Survey of the Coast."<ref name="NOAA">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/index.html NOAA, ''Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage'']</ref><ref name="timeline18071899">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/time1800.html noaa.gov NOAA History: NOAA Legacy Timeline 1807-1899]</ref> The Survey of the Coast, the [[United States government]]{{'}}s first scientific agency,<ref name="timeline18071899" /> represented the interest of the [[Administration (government)#United States|administration]] of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] in science and the stimulation of international trade by using scientific [[surveying]] methods to chart the waters of the United States and make them safe for navigation. A [[Swiss people|Swiss]] immigrant with expertise in both surveying and the standardization of [[weights and measures]], [[Ferdinand R. Hassler]], was selected to lead the Survey.<ref name="theberge1">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/TITLE.html#TITLE Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE HASSLER LEGACY: FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER and the UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY: THE EARLY YEARS," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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The National Geodetic Survey{{'}}s history and heritage are intertwined with those of other NOAA offices. It traces its history to the Survey of the Coast, which was formed in 1807 as the first scientific agency of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal government]]. It became the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878, the latter name change reflecting the increasing role of [[geodesy]] in its work. Upon the creation of NOAA in 1970, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished and its responsibilities were split among various agencies and offices of NOAA. The Coast and Geodetic Survey′s former geodetic responsibilities were placed under the new National Geodetic Survey in NOAA's National Ocean Survey (later renamed the [[National Ocean Service]]). |
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Hassler submitted a plan for the survey work involving the use of [[triangulation]] to ensure scientific accuracy of surveys, but [[international relations]] prevented the new Survey of the Coast from beginning its work; the [[Embargo Act of 1807]] brought American overseas trade virtually to a halt only a month after Hassler{{'}}s appointment and remained in effect until Jefferson left office in March 1809. It was not until 1811 that Jefferson{{'}}s successor, President [[James Madison]], sent Hassler to [[Europe]] to purchase the instruments necessary to conduct the planned survey, as well as standardized weights and measures. Hassler departed on August 29, 1811, but eight months later, while he was in [[England]], the [[War of 1812]] broke out, forcing him to remain in Europe until its conclusion in 1815. Hassler did not return to the United States until August 16, 1815.<ref name="theberge1" /> |
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In 2009, former [[NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps]] [[Commissioned officer|officer]] Juliana P. Blackwell was named Director of the National Geodetic Survey, becoming the first woman to head either NGS or any of its ancestor organizations. |
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The Survey finally began surveying operations in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of [[New York City]]. The first baseline was measured and verified in 1817. However, Hassler was taken by surprise when the [[United States Congress]] – frustrated by the slow and limited progress the Survey had made in its first decade, unwilling to endure the time and expense involved in scientifically precise surveying, unconvinced of the propriety of expending U.S. Government funds on scientific endeavors, and uncomfortable with Hassler leading the effort because of his foreign birth – enacted legislation in 1818 removing him from the leadership of the Survey and suspending its operations. Congress believed that [[United States Army]] and [[United States Navy]] [[Commissioned officer|officers]] could achieve surveying results adequate for safe navigation during their routine navigation and charting activities and could do so more quickly and cheaply than Hassler, and it gave the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy responsibility for coastal surveys. Under this law, which prohibited the U.S. Government from hiring civilians to conduct coastal surveys, the Survey of the Coast existed without a superintendent and without conducting any surveys during the 14 years from 1818 to 1832.<ref name="theberge1"/> |
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== |
==Purpose and function== |
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The National Geodetic Survey is an office of NOAA's [[National Ocean Service]]. Its core function is to maintain the [[National Spatial Reference System]] (NSRS), "a consistent coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States".<ref name="What_We_Do">{{cite web |url=http://geodesy.noaa.gov/INFO/WhatWeDo.shtml |work=National Geodetic Survey Website |access-date=May 27, 2013 |title=National Geodetic Survey – What We Do}}</ref> NGS is responsible for defining the NSRS and its relationship with the [[International Terrestrial Reference System and Frame|International Terrestrial Reference Frame]] (ITRF). The NSRS enables precise and accessible knowledge of where things are in the United States and its territories. |
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On July 10, 1832, Congress passed a new law renewing the original law of 1807, placing the responsibility for coastal surveying back in the Survey of the Coast and permitting the hiring of civilians to carry it out. Hassler was reappointed as the Survey{{'}}s superintendent that year. |
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The administration of President [[Andrew Jackson]] expanded and extended the Survey of the Coast{{'}}s scope and organization.<ref name="howe">{{cite book|title=What hath God Wrought, The Transformation of America, 1815–1848|last=Howe|first=Daniel W.|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc.|isbn=978-0-19-507894-7}}</ref>{{rp|468}} |
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The Survey of the Coast resumed field work in April 1833. |
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The NSRS may be divided into its geometric and physical components. The official geodetic datum of the United States, [[North American Datum|NAD83]] defines the geometric relationship between points within the United States in three-dimensional space. The datum may be accessed via NGS's network of survey marks or through the [[Real-time kinematic|Continuously Operating Reference Station]] (CORS) network of [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] reference antennas. NGS is responsible for computing the relationship between NAD83 and the ITRF. The physical components of the NSRS are reflected in its height system, defined by the vertical datum [[North American Vertical Datum of 1988|NAVD88]]. This datum is a network of [[orthometric height]]s obtained through spirit [[Levelling|leveling]]. Because of the close relationship between height and Earth's gravity field, NGS also collects and curates terrestrial [[gravity]] measurements and develops regional models of the [[geoid]] (the level surface that best approximates sea level) and its slope, the [[Vertical deflection|deflection of the vertical]]. NGS is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the NSRS over time, even as the [[North American Plate|North American plate]] rotates and deforms over time due to crustal strain, [[post-glacial rebound]], [[subsidence]], elastic deformation of the crust, and other geophysical phenomena. |
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In July 1833, Edmund E. Blunt, the son of hydrographer [[Edmund March Blunt|Edmund B. Blunt]], accepted a position with the Survey. The elder Blunt had begun publication of the ''American Coast Pilot'' – the first book of sailing directions, charts, and other information for mariners in North American waters to be published in [[North America]] – in 1796. Although the Survey relied on articles it published in local newspapers to provide information to mariners in the next decades, Blunt{{'}}s employment with the Survey began a relationship between the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Survey in which the Survey{{'}}s findings were incorporated into the ''American Coast Pilot'' and the Survey{{'}}s charts were sold by the Blunt family, which became staunch allies of the Survey in its disputes with its critics. Eventually, the relationship between the Survey and the Blunts would lead to the establishment of the Survey{{'}}s ''[[United States Coast Pilots|United States Coast Pilot]]'' publications in the latter part of the 19th century.<ref name="coastpilot">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cp-history.html noaa.gov, Theberge, Albert E., [[Captain (United States)|Captain]], [[NOAA Corps]], "The United States Coast Pilot – A Short History".]</ref> |
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NGS will release new datums in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Datums |url=https://geodesy.noaa.gov/datums/newdatums/index.shtml |website=National Geodetic Survey |access-date=March 21, 2017}}</ref> The North American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 (NATRF2022) will supersede NAD83 in defining the geometric relationship between the North American plate and the ITRF.<ref name="geodesy.noaa.gov">{{cite web |author=US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Geodetic Survey |title=Naming Conventions, New Datums |url=https://geodesy.noaa.gov/datums/newdatums/naming-convention.shtml |website=geodesy.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref> United States territories on the Pacific, Caribbean, and Mariana plates will have their own respective geodetic datums. The North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 (NAPGD2022) will separately define the height system of the United States and its territories, replacing NAVD88.<ref name="geodesy.noaa.gov"/> It will use a geoid model accurate to 1 centimeter (0.4") to relate orthometric height to ellipsoidal height measured by GPS, eliminating the need for future leveling projects. This geoid model will be based on airborne and terrestrial gravity measurements collected by NGS's GRAV-D program as well as satellite-based gravity models derived from observations collected by [[GRACE and GRACE-FO|GRACE]], [[Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer|GOCE]], and [[Satellite geodesy|satellite altimetry]] missions.<ref>{{cite web |author=US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Geodetic Survey |title=xGEOID16 Evaluation Computation |url=https://beta.ngs.noaa.gov/GEOID/xGEOID16/ |website=beta.ngs.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref> |
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===Association with United States Navy=== |
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The [[United States Department of the Navy]] was given the control of the Survey of the Coast from 1834 to 1836, but on March 26, 1836, the Department of the Treasury resumed the administration of the Survey, which was renamed the '''United States Coast Survey''' in 1836.<ref name="timeline18071899"/> The Navy retained close connection with the hydrographic efforts of the Coast Survey under law requiring Survey ships to be commanded and crewed by U.S. Navy officers and men when the Navy could provide such support.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of The Survey During The Year 1874 |last=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1877 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=3 |accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> Under this system, which persisted until the Survey was granted the authority to crew its ships in 1900, many of the most famous names in hydrography for both the Survey and Navy of the period are linked, as U.S. Navy officers and Coast Survey civilians served alongside one another aboard ship. In addition, the [[United States Department of War]] provided U.S. Army officers for service with the Survey during its early years. Hassler believed that expertise in coastal surveys would be of importance in future wars and welcomed the participation of Army and Navy personnel, and his vision in this regard laid the foundation for the commissioned corps of officers that would be created in the Survey in 1917 as the ancestor of today{{'}}s [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps]].<ref name="theberge3">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/HASSLER3.html#REBIRTH Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE HASSLER LEGACY: FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER and the UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY: THE REBIRTH OF THE SURVEY," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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NGS provides a number of other public services.<ref name="What_We_Do"/> It maps changing shorelines in the United States and provides aerial imagery of regions affected by natural disasters, enabling rapid damage assessment by emergency managers and members of the public. The Online Positioning and User Service (OPUS) processes user-input GPS data and outputs position solutions within the NSRS. The agency offers other tools for conversion between datums. |
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===Growth years=== |
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During the nineteenth century, the remit of the Survey was rather loosely drawn and it had no competitors in federally funded scientific research. Various superintendents developed its work in fields as diverse as [[astronomy]], [[cartography]], [[meteorology]], [[geodesy]], [[geology]], [[geophysics]], [[hydrography]], [[navigation]], [[oceanography]], [[exploration]], [[pilotage]], [[tides]], and [[topography]]. The Survey published important articles by [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] on the design of experiments and on [[Peirce's criterion|a criterion]] for the statistical treatment of [[outlier]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Charles Sanders|last=Peirce|authorlink=Charles Sanders Peirce|title=Appendix No. 21. On the Theory of Errors of Observation|journal=Report of the Superintendent of the United States [[Coast Survey]] Showing the Progress of the Survey During the Year 1870|year=1870 [published 1873]|pages=200–224}}. NOAA [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/001_pdf/CSC-0019.PDF#page=215 PDF Eprint] (goes to Report p. 200, PDF's p. 215). U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/data_rescue_cgs_annual_reports.html links for years 1837–1965]. Reprinted in ''[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#W|Writings of Charles S. Peirce]]'', v. 3, pp. 140–160.</ref><ref>[[Charles Sanders Peirce|Peirce, C. S.]] (1876 [published 1879]), "Appendix No. 14. Note on the Theory of the Economy of Research" in ''Report of the Superintendent of the United States [[Coast Survey]] Showing the Progress of the Survey for Fiscal Year Ending with June 1876'', pp. 197–201, [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/001_pdf/CSC-0025.PDF#page=222 NOAA PDF Eprint], goes to p. 197, PDF's page 222. Reprinted in ''[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#CP|Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce]]'', v. 7, paragraphs 139–157 and in ''[http://or.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/4/643 Operations Research]'' v. 15, n. 4, July–August 1967, pp. 643–648, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/168276 abstract at JSTOR] {{cite journal|last1=Peirce|first1=C. S.|title=Note on the Theory of the Economy of Research|journal=Operations Research|volume=15|pages=643|year=1967|doi=10.1287/opre.15.4.643|issue=4}}</ref> Ferdinand Hassler became the first Superintendent of Weights and Measures beginning in November 1830, and the Office of Weights and Measures, the ancestor of today{{'}}s [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], was placed under the control of the Coast Survey in 1836; until 1901, the Survey thus was responsible for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.<ref name="timeline18071899"/><ref name="theberge3"/> |
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When it resumed operations in 1833, the Survey returned to surveys of the New York City area and its maritime approaches. Although U.S. law prohibited the Survey from procuring its own ships, requiring it to use existing public ships such as those of the Navy and the [[United States Revenue Cutter Service]] for surveying operations afloat, the U.S. Department of the Navy worked around the law by allowing [[Lieutenant]] [[Thomas R. Gedney]] to purchase the [[schooner]] ''Jersey'' for the Navy, then deeming ''Jersey'' suited only for use by the Survey. Under Gedney{{'}}s command, ''Jersey'' began the Survey{{'}}s first [[depth sounding]] operations in October 1834, and made its first commercially and militarily significant discovery in 1835 by discovering what became known as the [[Gedney Channel]] at the entrance to [[New York Harbor]], which significantly reduced sailing times to and from New York City.<ref name="theberge3"/> |
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In 1838, U.S. Navy Lieutenant [[George M. Bache]], while attached to the Survey, suggested standardizing the markings of [[buoy]]s and navigational markers ashore by painting those on the right when entering a harbor red and those on the left black; instituted by Lieutenant Commander [[John R. Goldsborough]] in 1847, the "red right return" system of markings has been in use in the United States ever since. In August 1839, the Coast Survey made another kind of history when the Revenue Service [[United States Coast Guard Cutter|cutter]] {{USRC|Washington|1837|6}}, conducting sounding surveys for the Coast Survey off [[Long Island]] under Gedney{{'}}s command, intercepted the [[slave ship]] ''[[La Amistad]]'' and brought her into port. In the early 1840s, the Survey began work in [[Delaware Bay]] to chart the approaches to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="theberge3"/> |
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Professor [[Alexander Dallas Bache]] became superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey after Hassler{{'}}s death in 1843.<ref name="timeline18071899"/> During his years as superintendent, he reorganized the Coast Survey and expanded its work southward along the [[United States East Coast]] into the [[Florida Keys]]. In 1846 the Survey began to operate a ship, [[USCS Phoenix|''Phoenix'']], on the [[United States Gulf Coast]] for the first time. By 1847, Bache had expanded the Survey{{'}}s operations from nine states to seventeen, and by 1849 it also operated along the [[United States West Coast]], giving it a presence along all coasts of the United States.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE1.html#CHANGING Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE BACHE YEARS: CHANGING THE GUARD," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> In 1845, he instituted the world{{'}}s first systematic oceanographic project for studying a specific phenomenon when he directed the Coast Survey to begin systematic studies of the [[Gulf Stream]] and its environs, including physical oceanography, [[Geology|geological]] oceanography, [[Biology|biological]] oceanography, and [[Chemistry|chemical]] oceanography. Bache{{'}}s initial orders for the Gulf Stream study served as a model for all subsequent integrated oceanographic cruises.<ref name="timeline18071899" /> Bache also instituted regular and systematic observations of the [[tide]]s and investigated [[Magnetism|magnetic]] forces and directions, making the Survey the center of U.S. Government expertise in geophysics for the following century. In the late 1840s, the Survey pioneered the use of the [[telegraph]] to provide highly accurate determinations of [[longitude]]; known as the "American method," it soon was emulated worldwide.<ref name="bache2">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE2.html#EARLY Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "BACHE's EARLY YEARS," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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The [[Mexican-American War|Mexican War]] of 1846-1848 saw the withdrawal of virtually all U.S. Army officers from the Coast Survey and the Coast Survey [[brig]] {{USS|Washington|1837|2}} was taken over for U.S. Navy service in the war, but overall the war effort had little impact on the Coast Survey{{'}}s operations. Army officers returned after the war, and the expansion of U.S. territory as a result of the war led to the Coast Survey expanding its operations to include the newly acquired coasts of [[Texas]] and [[California]].<ref name="bache2" /> The famous [[naturalist]] [[Louis Agassiz]] studied marine life off [[New England]] from the Coast Survey [[Steamship|steamer]] [[USCS Bibb|''Bibb'']] in 1847 and also conducted the first scientific study of the [[Florida]] [[reef]] system in 1851 under a Coast Survey commission;<ref name="timeline18071899"/> his son, [[Alexander Agassiz]], later also served aboard Coast Survey ships for technical operations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/rarebooks/blake/welcome.html |title=Three Cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Steamer "Blake": In the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and Along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, from 1877 to 1880 |author=Alexander Agassiz |year=1888 |work= |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston & New York |accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> In the 1850s, the Coast Survey also conducted surveys and measurements in support of efforts to reform the Department of the Treasury{{'}}s [[Lighthouse Establishment]],<ref name="bache4">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE4.html#DISCOVERIES Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE FIELD WORK," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> and it briefly employed the artist [[James McNeill Whistler]] as a [[Drawing|draughtsman]] in 1854-1855.<ref name="bache7">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE7.html#INFORMATION Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "THE INFORMATION FACTORY," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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Ever since it began operations, the Coast Survey had faced hostility from politicians who believed that it should complete its work and be abolished as a means of reducing U.S. Government expenditures, and Hassler and Bache had fought back periodic attempts to cut its funding. By 1850, the Coast Survey had surveyed enough of the U.S. coastline for a long enough time to learn that – with a few exceptions, such as the rocky coast of [[New England]] – coastlines were dynamic and required return visits by Coast Surveyors to keep charts up to date.<ref name="bache4"/> In 1858, Bache for the first time publicly stated that the Coast Survey was not a temporary organization charged with charting the coasts once, but rather a permanent one that would continually survey coastal areas as they changed over time.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE3.html#RUNNING Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "BACHE's GOLDEN YEARS 1850-1860," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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Another significant moment in the Survey{{'}}s history that occurred in 1858 was the first publication of what would later become the ''United States Coast Pilot'', when Survey employee [[George Davidson (geographer)|George Davidson]] adapted an article from a [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[California]], newspaper into an addendum to that year{{'}}s ''Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey''. Although the Survey had previously published its work indirectly via the Blunts{{'}} ''American Coast Pilot'', it was the first time that the Survey had published its sailing directions directly in any way other than through local newspapers.<ref name="coastpilot"/> |
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On June 21, 1860, the greatest loss of life in a single incident in the history of NOAA and its ancestor agencies occurred when a commercial [[schooner]] collided with the Coast Survey [[paddle steamer]] [[USCS Robert J. Walker (1844)|''Robert J. Walker'']] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[New Jersey]]. ''Robert J. Walker'' sank with the loss of 20 men.<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/ship22.html#walker NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Robert J. Walker]</ref><ref name="story">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/RobertJWalker/The%20Story%20of%20the%20Robert%20J.%20Walker.pdf noaa.gov The Story of the Coast Survey Steamer Robert J. Walker]</ref> |
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A Coast Survey ship took part in an international scientific project for the first time when ''Bibb'' observed a [[solar eclipse]] from a vantage point off [[Aulezavik]], [[Labrador]], on July 18, 1860, as part of an international effort to study the eclipse. ''Bibb'' became the first Coast Survey vessel to operate in [[subarctic]] waters.<ref>[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/BACHE5.html#SHIPS Theberge, Captain Albert E., ''The Coast Survey 1807-1867: Volume I of the History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration'', "LIFE IN THE FIELD," no publisher listed, NOAA History, 1998.]</ref> |
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===American Civil War=== |
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[[Image:Reconnaissance of the Mississippi River.jpg|thumb|right|A survey of the [[Mississippi River]] in [[Louisiana]] below [[Fort Jackson, Louisiana|Fort Jackson]] and [[Fort St. Philip]] made by the U.S. Coast Survey to prepare for the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip|bombardment of the forts]] by [[David Dixon Porter]]'s [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fleet in April 1862 during the [[American Civil War]].<ref>''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies'', Series I, Volume 18, p. 362.</ref>]] |
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The outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] in April 1861 caused a dramatic shift in direction for the Coast Survey. All U.S. Army officers were withdrawn from the Survey, as were all but two U.S. Navy officers. Since most men of the Survey had [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] sympathies, all but seven of them stayed on with the Survey rather than resigning to serve the [[Confederate States of America]], and their work shifted in emphasis to support of the U.S. Navy and [[Union Army]]. Civilian Coast Surveyors were called upon to serve in the field and provide mapping, hydrographic, and engineering expertise for Union forces. One of the individuals who excelled at this work was [[Joseph Smith Harris]], who supported [[Rear Admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[David G. Farragut]] and his [[Western Gulf Blockading Squadron]] in the [[Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip]] in 1862; this survey work was particularly valuable to [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[David Dixon Porter]] and his [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] bombardment fleet. Coast Surveyors served in virtually all theaters of the war and were often in the front lines or in advance of the front lines carrying out mapping duties, and Coast Survey officers produced many of the coastal charts and interior maps used by Union forces throughout the war. Coast Surveyors supporting the Union Army were given assimilated military rank while attached to a specific command, but those supporting the U.S. Navy operated as civilians and ran the risk of being executed as [[Espionage|spies]] if captured by the Confederates while working in support of Union forces.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/corps.html NOAA History: NOAA Corps and the Coast and Geodetic Survey]</ref><ref name="timeline18071899"/> |
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===Post-Civil War=== |
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[[File:U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey emblem.jpg|thumb|right|The seal of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]][[File:USC&GS Headquarters 1888.JPG|250px|thumb|right|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters on New Jersey Avenue in [[Washington, D.C.]], from ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'', October 1888.]]Army officers never returned to the Coast Survey, but after the war Navy officers did, and the Coast Survey resumed its peacetime duties. The acquisition of the [[Territory of Alaska]] in 1867 expanded its responsibilities, as did the progressive exploration, settlement, and enclosure of the [[continental United States]].<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> George W. Blunt sold the [[copyright]] for the ''American Coast Pilot'' – the Blunt family publication which had appeared in 21 editions since 1796 and had come to consist almost entirely of public information produced by the Survey anyway – in 1867, and the Survey thus took responsibility for publishing it regularly for the first time, spawning a family of such publications for the various coasts of the United States and the Territory of Alaska in the coming years.<ref name="coastpilot"/> In 1888, the publications for the United States East and Gulf coasts took the name ''[[United States Coast Pilots|United States Coast Pilot]]'' for the first time, and the publications for the United States West Coast took this name 30 years later. NOAA produces the ''United States Coast Pilots'' to this day.<ref name="coastpilot" /> |
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In 1871, Congress officially expanded the Coast Survey{{'}}s responsibilities to include geodetic surveys in the interior of the country,<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /><ref name="timeline18071899" /> and one of its first major projects in the interior was to survey the [[39th parallel north|39th Parallel]] across the entire country. Between 1874 and 1877, the Coast Survey employed the naturalist and author [[John Muir]] as a guide and artist during the survey of the 39th Parallel in the [[Great Basin]] of [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]].<ref name="timeline18071899" /> To reflect its acquisition of the mission of surveying the U.S. interior and the growing role of geodesy in its operations, the U.S. Coast Survey was renamed the '''United States Coast and Geodetic Survey''' ('''USC&GS''') in 1878.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /><ref name="timeline18071899" /> |
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The ''American Coast Pilot'' had long been lacking in current information when the Coast Survey took control of it in 1867, and the Survey had recognized that deficit but had been hindered by a lack of funding and the risks associated with mooring vessels in deep waters or along dangerous coasts in order to collect the information necessary for updates. The U.S. Congress specifically appropriated funding for such work in the 1875-1876 budget under which the 76-foot (23-meter) [http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/ship6.html#drift schooner ''Drift''] was constructed and sent out under U.S. Navy Acting Master and Coast Survey Assistant Robert Platt to the [[Gulf of Maine]] to anchor in depths of up to 140 fathoms (840 feet/256 meters) to measure currents.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of The Work for the Fiscal Year Ending With June, 1877 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1877 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |page=9 |accessdate=2 March 2012}}</ref> The Survey's requirement to update sailing directions led to the development of early [[Ocean current|current]] measurement technology, particularly the [http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/ship4033.htm Pillsbury current meter] invented by [[John E. Pillsbury]], [[United States Navy|USN]], while on duty with the Survey. It was in connection with intensive studies of the [[Gulf Stream]] that the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship [[USC&GS George S. Blake|USC&GS ''George S. Blake'']] became such a pioneer in oceanography that she is one of only two U.S. ships with her name inscribed in the façade of the [[Oceanographic Museum| Oceanographic Museum (Musée Océanographique)]] in [[Monaco]] due to her being "the most innovative oceanographic vessel of the Nineteenth Century" with development of deep ocean exploration through introduction of steel cable for sounding, dredging and deep anchoring and data collection for the "first truly modern bathymetric map of a deep sea area."<ref Name=GSBNOAA>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/blake.html |title=''George S. Blake'' |year=2006 |work=NOAA History: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships |publisher=National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA Central Library |accessdate=9 February 2012}}</ref> |
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===Crisis in the mid-1880s=== |
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By the mid-1880s, the Coast and Geodetic Survey had been caught up in the increased scrutiny of U.S. Government agencies by politicians seeking to reform governmental affairs by curbing the [[spoils system]] and [[patronage]] common among office holders of the time. One outgrowth of this movement was the [[Allison Commission]] – a joint commission of the [[United States Senate]] and [[United States House of Representatives]] – which convened in 1884 to investigate the scientific agencies of the U.S. Government, namely the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the [[United States Geological Survey]], the [[United States Army]] [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] (responsible for studying and predicting weather at the time), and the [[United States Navy]]'s [[United States Hydrographic Office]]. The commission looked into three main issues: the role of geodesy in the U.S. Government's scientific efforts and whether responsibility for inland geodetics should reside in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey or the U.S. Geological Survey; whether the Coast and Geodetic Survey should be removed from the Department of the Treasury and placed under the control of the Department of the Navy, as it had been previously from 1834 to 1836; and whether weather services should reside in a military organization or in the civilian part of the government, raising the broader issue of whether U.S. government scientific agencies of all kinds should be under military or civilian control.<ref name="close2">[http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastandgeodeticsurvey/Thornchapter.pdf ''Sailing Close to the Wind: Superintendent Thorn Rescues the Coast and Geodetic Survey (1885-1889)'', p. 2.]</ref> |
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At the Coast and Geodetic Survey, at least some scientists were not prone to following bureaucratic requirements related to the funding of their projects, and their lax financial practices led to charges of mismanagement of funds and corruption. When [[Grover Cleveland]] became president in 1885, James Q. Chenoweth became First Auditor of the Department of the Treasury, and he began to investigate improprieties at the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, and [[United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries]], more commonly referred to as the U.S. Fish Commission. He had little impact on the Geological Survey or the Fish Commission, but at the Coast and Geodetic Survey he found many improprieties. Chenoweth found that the Coast and Geodetic Survey had failed to account for government equipment it had purchased, continued to pay retired personnel as a way of giving them a pension even though the law did not provide for a pension system, paid employees whether they worked or not, and misused ''[[per diem]]'' money intended for the expenses of personnel in the field by paying ''per diem'' funds to employees who were not in the field as a way of augmenting their very low authorized wages and providing them with fair compensation. Chenoweth saw these practices as [[embezzlement]]. Chenoweth also suspected embezzlement in the Survey's practice of providing its employees with money in advance for large and expensive purchases when operating in remote areas because of the Survey's inability to verify that the expenses were legitimate. Moreover, the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, [[Julius Erasmus Hilgard|Julius Hilgard]], was exposed as a drunkard and forced to resign in disgrace along with four of his senior staff members at Survey headquarters.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 3-4.</ref> |
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To address issues at the Coast and Geodetic Survey raised by the Allison Commission and the Chenoweth investigation, Cleveland made the Chief Clerk of the [[Internal Revenue Bureau]], [[Frank Manly Thorn]], Acting Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on July 23, 1885, and appointed as the permanent superintendent on September 1.<ref name="close4">''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 4</ref><ref name="centennial">[https://archive.org/stream/centennialceleb02survgoog/centennialceleb02survgoog_djvu.txt Anonymous, ''Centennial Celebration of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey'', Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1916, p. 139.]</ref> Thorn, a lawyer and journalist who was the first non-scientist to serve as superintendent, quickly concluded that the charges against Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel largely were overblown, and he set his mind to the issues of rebuilding the Survey's integrity and reputation and ensuring that it demonstrated its value to its critics. Ignorant of the Survey's operations and the scientific methods that lay behind them, he left such matters to his assistant, [[Benjamin J. Colonna]], and focused instead on reforming the Survey's financial and budgetary procedures and improving its operations so as to demonstrate the value of its scientific program in performing accurate mapping while setting and meeting production deadlines for maps and charts.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 5, 8-10.</ref> |
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To the Survey's critics, Thorn and Colonna championed the importance of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's inland geodetic work and how it supported, rather than duplicated, the work of the Geological Survey and was in any event an important component of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's hydrographic work along the coasts. Thorn also advocated civilian control of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, pointing out to Cleveland and others that earlier experiments with placing it under U.S. Navy control had fared poorly.<ref name="close11">''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 11.</ref> Thorn described the Coast and Geodetic Survey's essential mission as, in its simplest form, to produce "a perfect map,".<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', p. 13.</ref> and to this end he and Colonna championed the need for the Survey to focus on the broad range of geodetic disciplines Colonna identified as necessary for accurate chart- and mapmaking: [[triangulation]], [[Astronomy|astronomical obsevations]], [[levelling]], [[Tide|tidal observations]], [[physical geodesy]], [[topography]], [[hydrography]], and [[Magnetism|magnetic]] observations.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 14-15.</ref> To those who advocated transfer of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's work to the Navy Hydrographic Office, Thorn and Colonna replied that although the Navy could perform hydrography, it could not provide the full range of geodetic disciplines necessary for scientifically accurate surveying and mapping work. |
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In 1886, the Allison Commission wrapped up its investigation and published its final report. Although it determined that all topographic responsibility outside of coastal areas would henceforth reside in the U.S. Geological Survey, it approved of the Coast and Geodetic Survey continuing its entire program of scientific research, and recommended that the Coast and Geodetic Survey remain under civilian control rather than be subordinated to the U.S. Navy. It was a victory for Thorn and Colonna.<ref name="close11"/> Another victory followed in 1887, when Thorn headed off a congressional attempt to subordinate the Survey to the Navy despite the Allison Commission's findings, providing Cleveland with information on the previous lack of success of such an arrangement.<ref name="close11"/> When Thorn left the superintendency in 1889, the Coast and Geodetic Survey's position in the U.S. Government had become secure. |
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Before Thorn left the superintendency, the [[United States Congress]] passed a bill requiring that henceforth the president would select the superintendent of the Coast ad Geodetic Survey with the consent of the U.S. Senate. This practice has continued for senior positions in the Coast and Geodetic Survey and its successor organizations ever since.<ref>''Sailing Close to the Wind'', pp. 41-42.</ref> |
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===Later 19th century and early 20th century=== |
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[[Image:Sigsbee Sounding Machine-Blake.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sigsbee Sounding Machine – invented by [[Charles Dwight Sigsbee]] and modified from Thomson Sounding Machine. Basic design of ocean sounding instruments stayed the same for the next 50 years. Here the sounding machine is used to set a Pillsbury current meter at a known depth. In: ''The Gulf Stream'', by John Elliott Pillsbury, 1891. Note caption on photo: "Sounding Machine And Current Meter In Place, Steamer ''Blake''"]]In the 1890s, while attached to the Coast and Geodetic Survey as [[commanding officer]] of ''George S. Blake'', [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Charles Dwight Sigsbee]], [[United States Navy|USN]], Assistant in the Coast Survey,<ref group=Note>The formal title given these officers in reports is for example: "Lieut. Commander John A. Howell, U.S.N., '''Assistant in the Coast Survey'''" with "Assistant" being a title for both high office and topographic survey management positions and ship's commanding officers.</ref> developed the [[Sigsbee sounding machine]] while conducting the first true bathymetric surveys in the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. |
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With the outbreak of the [[Spanish–American War]] in April 1898, the U.S. Navy again withdrew its officers from Coast and Geodetic Survey duty. As a result of the war, which ended in August 1898, the United States took control of the [[Philippine Islands]] and [[Puerto Rico]], and surveying their waters became part of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's duties.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> The Survey opened a field office in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]] in 1899, to support survey ships operating in the [[Pacific Ocean]] as well as survey field expeditions in the [[western United States]]; this office eventually would become the modern [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] Pacific Marine Center.<ref name="timeline18071899" /> |
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The system of U.S. Navy officers and men crewing the Survey{{'}}s ships that had prevailed for most of the 19th century came to an end when the appropriation law approved on June 6, 1900, provided for "all necessary employees to man and equip the vessels" instead of Navy personnel. The law went into effect on July 1, 1900; at that point, all Navy personnel assigned to the Survey{{'}}s ships remained aboard until the first call at each ship{{'}}s [[home port]], where they transferred off, with the Survey reimbursing the Navy for their pay accrued after July 1, 1900.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of Work From July 1, 1900 To June 30, 1901 |author=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1901 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=15, 17, 109 |accessdate=4 February 2012}}</ref> Thereafter, the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated as an entirely civilian organization until May 1917. |
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In 1901, the Office of Weights and Measures was split off from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to become the separate National Bureau of Standards. It became the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] in 1988.<ref name="timeline19001969">[http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/time1900_1.html noaa.gov NOAA History: NOAA Legacy Timeline 1900-1969]</ref> |
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In 1904, the Coast and Geodetic Survey introduced the [[wire-drag survey|wire-drag]] technique into hydrography, in which a wire attached to two ships or boats and set at a certain depth by a system of weights and buoys was dragged between two points. This method revolutionized hydrographic surveying, as it allowed a quicker, less laborious, and far more complete survey of an area than did the use of lead lines and sounding poles that had preceded it, and it remained in use until the late 1980s.<ref>[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/hsd/hydro_history.html noaa.gov History of Hydrographic Surveying]</ref> |
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===World War I=== |
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Although some personnel aboard Coast and Geodetic Survey ships wore uniforms virtually identical to those of the U.S. Navy, the Survey operated as a completely civilian organization from 1900 until after the United States entered [[World War I]] in April 1917. To avoid the dangerous situation Coast Survey personnel had faced during the American Civil War, when they could have been executed as spies if captured by the enemy, a new '''Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps''' was created on 22 May 1917, giving the Survey{{'}}s officers a [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] status that protected them from treatment as spies if captured, as well as providing the [[United States armed forces]] with a ready source of officers skilled in surveying that could be rapidly assimilated for wartime support of the armed forces.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> |
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Over half of all Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps during World War I, and Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel were active as artillery orienteering officers, as [[minelaying]] officers in the [[North Sea]] (where they supported the laying of the [[North Sea Mine Barrage]]), as [[troop transport]] navigators, as [[Military intelligence|intelligence]] officers, and as officers on the staff of [[General (United States)|General]] [[John Pershing|John "Black Jack" Pershing]].<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> |
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===Interwar period=== |
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[[File:US National Geodetic Survey marker.jpg|thumb|A 1932 marker at [[Fort McAllister Historic Park]] in [[Bryan County, Georgia|Bryan County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].]] |
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During the period between the world wars, the Coast and Geodetic Survey returned to its peaceful scientific and surveying pursuits, including land surveying, sea floor charting, coastline mapping, [[geophysics]], and [[oceanography]].<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> In 1923 and 1924, it began the use of [[Acoustics|acoustic]] sounding systems and developed radio acoustic ranging, which was the first marine [[navigation]] system in history that did not rely on a visual means of position determination. These developments led to the Survey{{'}}s 1924 discovery of the [[SOFAR channel|sound fixing and ranging (SOFAR) channel]] or deep sound channel (DSC) – a horizontal layer of water in the ocean at which depth the speed of sound is at its minimum – and to the development of [[Telemetry|telemetering]] radio [[sonobuoy]]s and marine [[Seismology|seismic]] exploration techniques.<ref name="timeline19001969"/> The [[Air Commerce Act]], which went into effect on May 20, 1926, among other things directed that the [[Flight path|airways]] of the United States be charted for the first time and assigned this mission to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.<ref name="timeline19001969"/> |
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In 1933, the Coast and Geodetic Survey opened a ship base in [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]]. From 1934 to 1937, it organized surveying parties and field offices to employ over 10,000 people, including many unemployed [[engineer]]s, during the height of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].<ref name="timeline19001969"/> |
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===World War II=== |
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When the United States entered [[World War II]] in December 1941, all of this work was suspended as the Survey dedicated its activities entirely to support of the war effort. Over half of the Coast and Geodetic Corps commissioned officers were transferred to either the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, or [[United States Army Air Forces]], while those who remained in the Coast and Geodetic Survey also operated in support of military and naval requirements. About half of the Survey{{'}}s civilian work force, slightly over 1,000 people, joined the armed services.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> |
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Officers and civilians of the Survey saw service in [[North African campaign|North Africa]], [[European Theater of World War II|Europe]], and the [[Pacific Theater of World War II|Pacific]] and in the defense of [[North America]] and its waters, serving as artillery surveyors, [[Hydrography|hydrographers]], [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] engineers, beachmasters (i.e., directors of disembarkation), instructors at service schools, and in a wide range of technical positions. Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel also worked as reconnaissance surveyors for a worldwide aeronautical charting effort, and a Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officer was the first [[commanding officer]] of the Army Air Forces Aeronautical Chart Plant at [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Missouri]]. Coast and Geodetic Survey civilians who remained in the United States during the war produced over 100 million maps and charts for the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces. Three Coast and Geodetic Survey officers and eleven members of the agency who had joined other services were killed during the war.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs"/> |
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===Post–World War II=== |
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[[File:Coast & Geodetic Survey 3c 1957 issue U.S. stamp.jpg|thumb|right|150th anniversary commemorative stamp, issued by the [[United States Post Office Department]] in 1957.]] |
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Following World War II, the Coast and Geodetic Survey resumed its peacetime scientific and surveying efforts. In 1945 it adapted the British [[Royal Air Force]]{{'}}s [[Gee (navigation)|Gee]] [[radio navigation]] system to hydrographic surveying, ushering in a new era of marine electronic navigation. In 1948 it established the [[Pacific Tsunami Warning Center]] in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]] [[Hawaii]].<ref name="timeline19001969" /> The onset of the [[Cold War]] in the late 1940s led the Survey also to make a significant effort in support of defense requirements, such as conducting surveys for the [[Distant Early Warning Line]] and for [[rocket]] ranges, performing oceanographic work for the U.S. Navy, and monitoring [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear]] tests.<ref name="timeline19001969" /> |
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In 1955, the Coast and Geodetic Survey ship [[USC&GS Pioneer (OSS 31)|USC&GS ''Pioneer'' (OSS 31)]] conducted a survey in the Pacific Ocean off the [[United States West Coast]] towing a [[magnetometer]] invented by the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]]. The first such survey in history, it discovered [[magnetic striping]] on the seafloor, a key finding in the development of the theory of [[plate tectonics]].<ref name="timeline19001969" /> |
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The Coast and Geodetic Survey participated in the [[International Geophysical Year]] (IGY) of July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. During the IGY, 67 countries cooperated in a worldwide effort to collect, share, and study data on eleven [[Earth science]]s – [[Auroral light|aurora]] and [[airglow]], [[cosmic ray]]s, [[Earth's magnetic field|geomagnetism]], [[gravity]], [[ionosphere|ionospheric physics]], [[longitude]] and [[latitude]] determinations for precision mapping, [[meteorology]], [[oceanography]], [[seismology]], and [[Space weather|solar activity]].<ref name="timeline19001969" /> |
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In 1959, the Coast and Geodetic Survey{{'}}s charter was extended to give it the responsibility for U.S. Government oceanographic studies worldwide.<ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> In 1963, it became the first U.S. Government scientific agency to take part in an international cooperative oceanographic/[[Meteorology|meteorological]] project when the survey ship [[USC&GS Explorer (OSS 28)|USC&GS ''Explorer'' (OSS 28)]] made a scientific cruise in support of the [[EQUALANT I]] and [[EQUALANT II]] subprojects of the [[International Cooperative Investigations of the Tropical Atlantic]] (ICITA) project.<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/explorer2.html NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Explorer]</ref><ref>[http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepod/data/equalant/index.html nmfs.noaa.gov EQUALANT]</ref><ref>[http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/copepod/data/equalant/html_src/cruises.html nmfs.noaa.gov SHIP & CRUISE SUMMARY]</ref> A Coast and Geodetic Survey ship operated in the [[Indian Ocean]] for the first time in 1964, when ''Pioneer'' conducted the [[International Indian Ocean Expedition]].<ref>[http://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/pioneer3.html NOAA History, A Science Odyssey: Tools of the Trade: Ships: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Pioneer]</ref> |
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===ESSA and NOAA years=== |
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On 13 July 1965, the [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] (ESSA), was established and became the new parent organization of both the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the [[United States Weather Bureau]].<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="timeline19001969" /> At the same time, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was removed from the Survey{{'}}s direct control, subordinated directly to ESSA, and renamed the '''Environmental Science Services Administration Corps''', or "'''ESSA Corps'''." As the ESSA Corps, it retained the responsibility of providing commissioned officers to man Coast and Geodetic Survey ships.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /><ref name="timeline19001969" /> |
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On 3 October 1970, ESSA was expanded and reorganized to form the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA). The Coast and Geodetic Survey ceased to exist as it merged with other government scientific agencies to form NOAA, but its constituent parts lived on, with its geodetic responsibilities assigned to the new '''National Geodetic Survey''', its hydrographic survey duties to NOAA{{'}}s new '''Office of Coast Survey''', and its ships to the new [[NOAA ships and aircraft|NOAA fleet]], while the ESSA Corps became the new '''[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps]]''', or '''"NOAA Corps"'''. The National Geodetic Survey, Office of Coast Survey, and NOAA fleet all fell under control of NOAA{{'}}s new '''[[National Ocean Service]]'''.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="noaahistoryuscgs" /> |
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==Coast and Geodetic Survey leadership== |
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[[Image:Frank Thorn NOAA.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Frank Manly Thorn]] served as sixth Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.]] |
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[[Image:Admiral KARO NOAA obit.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rear Admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Henry Arnold Karo]] served as the fourth Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.]] |
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===Superintendents (1816–1919)=== |
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<small>Source <ref name="leaderscoast survey">[http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/docs/Leaders_of_Coast_Survey.pdf noaa.gov Leaders of Coast Survey]</ref></small> |
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#[[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]] (1816–1818 and 1832–1843) |
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#[[Alexander Dallas Bache]] (1843–1867) |
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#[[Benjamin Peirce]] (1867–1874) |
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#[[Carlile Pollock Patterson]] (1874–1881) |
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#[[Julius Erasmus Hilgard]] (1881–1885) |
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#[[Frank Manly Thorn]] (1885–1889), the first non-scientist to hold the position |
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#[[Thomas Corwin Mendenhall]] (1889–1894) |
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#[[William Ward Duffield]] (1894–1897) |
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#[[Henry Smith Pritchett]] (1897–1900) |
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#[[Otto Hilgard Tittmann]] (1900–1915) |
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#[[Colonel E. Lester Jones|Ernest Lester Jones]] (1915–1919) |
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===Directors (1919–1970)=== |
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<small>Source <ref name="leaderscoast survey"/></small> |
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#[[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Ernest Lester Jones]] (1919–1929) |
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#[[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]]/[[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Raymond Stanton Patton]] (1929–1937) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Leo Otis Colbert]] (1938-1950) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Robert Francis Anthony Studds]] (1950–1955) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Henry Arnold Karo]] (1955–1965) |
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#Rear Admiral [[James C. Tison, Jr.]] (1965–1968) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Don A. Jones]] (1968–1970) |
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===Superintendents of Weights and Measures=== |
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*[[Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler]] (c. 1818–1843) |
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*[[Joseph Saxton]] (1843–1873) |
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===Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps (1917-1965)=== |
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{{main|NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps}} |
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#[[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Ernest Lester Jones]] (1917–1929) |
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#[[Captain (United States)|Captain]]/[[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Raymond Stanton Patton]] (1929–1937) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Leo Otis Colbert]] (1938-1950) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Robert Francis Anthony Studds]] (1950–1955) |
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#Rear Admiral [[Henry Arnold Karo]] (1955–1965) |
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==Ships== |
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{{Category see also|Ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey}} |
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[[Image:USS Pathfinder NOAA.jpg|thumb|right|[[USC&GS Pathfinder (OSS 30)|USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (OSS 30)]] was transferred to the [[United States Navy]] while under construction and served in the Navy as {{USS|Pathfinder|AGS-1}} from 1942 to 1946 before being returned to the Coast and Geodetic Survey.]] |
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The Survey of the Coast{{'}}s first ship, the schooner ''Jersey'', was acquired for it in 1834 by the U.S. Department of the Navy. By purchasing commercial vessels, through transfers from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, and later through construction of ships built specifically for the Survey, the Coast Survey and later the Coast and Geodetic Survey operated a fleet of ships until the formation of NOAA in October 1970. |
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The first of the Survey{{'}}s ships to see U.S. Navy service was the brig {{USRC|Washington|1837|6}} during the Mexican War. During the American Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II, some of the Survey{{'}}s ships saw service in the U.S. Navy and [[United States Coast Guard]], while others supported the war effort as a part of the Survey{{'}}s fleet. |
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The Coast and Geodetic Survey applied the abbreviation "USC&GS" as a prefix to the names of its ships, analogous to the "[[United States Ship|USS]]" abbreviation employed by the U.S. Navy. In the 20th century, the Coast and Geodetic Survey also instituted a [[hull classification symbol]] system similar to the one that the U.S. Navy began using in 1920. Each ship was classified as an "ocean survey ship" (OSS), "medium survey ship" (MSS), "coastal survey ship" (CSS), or "auxiliary survey vessel" (ASV), and assigned a unique hull number, the abbreviation for its type and its unique hull number combining to form its individual hull code. For example, the ocean survey ship ''Oceanographer'' that served from 1930 to 1942 was [[USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 26)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 26)]], while the ''Oceanographer'' that served from 1966 to 1970 was [[USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 01)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01)]]. |
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When NOAA was created on 3 October 1970 and the Coast and Geodetic Survey was dissolved, its ships were combined with the [[Fishery|fisheries]] [[research ship]]s of the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]{{'}}s Bureau of Commercial Fisheries to form the new NOAA fleet. For a time, NOAA continued to use the Coast and Geodetic Survey{{'}}s classification system for its survey ships, but it later abandoned it and instituted a [[Hull classification symbol#National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|new classification scheme]]. |
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A partial list of the Survey{{'}}s ships: |
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[[Image:EXPLORER in Aleutians 1944.jpg|thumb|right|[[USC&GS Explorer (OSS 28)|USC&GS ''Explorer'' (OSS 28)]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] in 1944]] |
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[[File:USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS O1) off Seattle c1974.jpg|thumb|right|[[USC&GS Oceanographer (OSS 01)|USC&GS ''Oceanographer'' (OSS 01)]] was [[flagship]] of the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet from her [[Ship commissioning|commissioning]] in 1966 until the creation of [[NOAA]] in 1970.]] |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|A. D. Bache|1871}} (in service ca. 1871–1900) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|A. D. Bache|1901}} (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1927) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Active}} (in service 1852–1861) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Arago|1854}} (in service 1854–1881) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Arago|1871}} (in service 1871–1890) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Arctic}} (in service 1856–1858) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Audwin}} (in service 1919–1927) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Baltimore}} (in service 1851–1858) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Bancroft}} (in service 1846–1862) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Barataria|1867|6}} (in service 1867–1885) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Baton Rouge|1875|6}} (in service 1875–1880) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Belle}} (in service 1848–1857) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Benjamin Peirce}} (in service 1855–1868) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Bowditch}} (in service 1854–1874) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Bowie|CSS 27}} (in service 1946-1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Carlile P. Patterson}} (in service 1884–1918) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Cosmos}} (in service 1887–1927) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Dailhache|1913|6}} (in service 1919–1934) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Davidson|1925}} (in service 1933–1935) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Davidson|CSS 31}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Discoverer|1918}} (in service 1922–1941) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Discoverer|OSS 02}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Drift}} (in service 1876–1893) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Eagre}} (in service ca. 1870s–1903) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Elsie III|1912|6}} (in service 1919–1944) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Explorer|1904}} (in service 1904–1918; 1919–1939) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Explorer|OSS 28}} (in service 1940–1968) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fairweather|MSS 20}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1989 and 2004–present) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fathomer|1871}} (in service 1871–1881) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Fathomer|1904}} (in service 1905–1942) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ferrel|ASV 92}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2002) |
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* {{Ship|USRC|Gallatin|1830}} (in service 1840–1848 and from 1849) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|George S. Blake}} (in service 1874–1905; famous as pioneer ship in deep-ocean survey and oceanography) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Gilbert}} (in service 1930–1962) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Guide|1918}} (in service 1923–1941) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Guide|1929}} (in service 1941–1942) |
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* [[Hassler (vessel)|''Hassler'']] (in service 1871–1895) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Heck|ASV 91}} (in service 1967–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hilgard|ASV 82}} (in service 1942–1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hodgson|CSS 26}} (in service 1946–1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Hydrographer|1901}} (in service 1901–1917; 1919–1928) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Isis}} (in service 1915–1917; 1919–1920) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Lester Jones|ASV-79}} (in service 1940–1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Lydonia|CS 302}} (in service 1919–1947) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Madison}} (in service 1850–1858) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marindin}} (in service 1919–1944) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marinduque}} (in service 1905–1932) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Marmer}} (in service 1957–1968) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Matchless}} (in service 1885–1919) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|McArthur|1874}} (in service 1876–1915) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|McArthur|MSS 22}} (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970-2003) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Meredith}} (in service 1851–1872) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mikawe}} (in service 1920–1939) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mitchell}} (in service 1919–1944) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Morris}} (in service 1849–1855) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Mount Mitchell|MSS 22}} (in service 1968–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Natoma|1913|6}} (in service 1919–1935) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Oceanographer|OSS 26}} (in service 1930–1942) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Oceanographer|OSS 01}} (in service 1966–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ogden}} (in service 1919–1944) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Onward}} (in service 1919–1920) |
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* [[USC&GSS Pathfinder (1899–1941)|USC&GS ''Pathfinder'' (1898)]] (in service 1899–1942, renamed USC&GS ''Researcher'' 1941) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pathfinder|OSS 30}} (in service 1946–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1971) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Patton|ASV-80}} (in service 1941–1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pierce|CSS 28}} (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1992) |
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* {{Ship|USCS|Phoenix}} (in service 1845–1857) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|1918}} (in service 1922–1941) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|1929}} (in service 1941–1942) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Pioneer|OSS 31}} (in service 1946–1966) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Ranger}} (in service 1919–1930 or 1931) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Research|1901}} (in service 1901–1918) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Researcher|OSS 03}} (in service 1970, then with NOAA 1970–1996) |
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* [[USCS Robert J. Walker (1844)|USCS ''Robert J. Walker'']] (in service 1848–1860) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Romblon}} (in service 1905–1921) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Silliman}} (in service 1871–1888) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Surveyor|1917}} (in service 1917 and 1919–1956) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Surveyor|OSS 32}} (in service 1960–1970, then with NOAA 1970–1995 or 1996) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Taku}} (in service 1898–1917) |
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* [[USRC Taney (1833)|USRC ''Taney'' (1833)]] (in service 1847–1850) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Thomas R. Gedney}} (in service 1875–1915) |
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* [[USCS Vanderbilt|USCS ''Vanderbilt'']] (in service 1842–1855) |
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* [[USCS Varina|USCS ''Varina'']] (in service 1854–1875) |
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* {{USS|Vixen|1861}} )(in service 1860s) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Wainwright|ASV 83}} (in service 1942–1967) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Westdahl}} (in service 1929–1946) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Whiting|CSS 29}} (in service 1963–1970, then with NOAA 1970–2003) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Wildcat|1919}} (in service 1919–1941) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Yukon|1873}} (in service 1873–1894) |
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* {{Ship|USC&GS|Yukon|1898}} (in service 1898–1923) |
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==Flag== |
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[[File:Flag of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.svg|thumb|upright=0.7|The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, in use from 1899 to 1970]] |
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The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized its own flag on 16 January 1899. The flag, which remained in use until the Survey merged with other agencies to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, was blue, with a central white circle and a red triangle centered within the circle. It was intended to symbolize the [[triangulation]] method used in [[surveying]]. The flag was flown by ships in commission with the Coast and Geodetic Survey at the highest point on the forwardmost mast, and served as a [[distinguishing mark]] of the Survey as a separate seagoing service from the Navy, with which the Survey shared a common [[ensign]]. |
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The ESSA flag, in use from 1965 to 1970, was adapted from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding a blue circle to the center of the Survey flag, with a stylized, diamond-shaped map of the world within the blue circle. The blue circle containing the map lay entirely within the red triangle.<ref>[http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/cgs00970.htm NOAA Photo Library Image ID: cgs00970]]</ref><ref>[http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/cgs00971.htm NOAA Photo Library Image ID: cgs00971]]</ref> |
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The [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration#Flag|NOAA flag]], in use today, also was adapted from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding the NOAA emblem – a circle divided into two parts by the white silhouette of a flying [[seagull]], with the roughly triangular portion above the bird being dark blue and the portion below it a lighter blue – to the center of the old Survey flag. The NOAA symbol lies entirely within the red triangle.<ref>[http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeohzt4/Seaflags/noaa/noaa.html Sea Flags: National Oceanic and Atmoshperic Administration] at [[Verizon]] {{wayback|url=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeohzt4/Seaflags/noaa/noaa.html |date=20081224142440 }}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Awards and decorations of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] |
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* [[Height Modernization]] |
* [[Height Modernization]] |
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* [[Herbert Grove Dorsey]] |
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* [[Hydrographic_survey#United_States]] |
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* [[Hydrography]] |
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* [[International maritime signal flags]] |
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* [[Lists of flags]] |
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* [[Nautical chart]] |
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* [[Surveying]] |
* [[Surveying]] |
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* [[Topography]] |
* [[Topography]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist|group=Note}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{ |
{{reflist|2}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* {{oweb|https://geodesy.noaa.gov/}} |
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{{Commons category|United States Coast and Geodetic Survey}} |
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* [http://geodesy.noaa.gov/ National Geodetic Survey website] |
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** [http://www.lib.noaa.gov/noaainfo/heritage/coastsurveyvol1/CONTENTS.html early history of the Coast Survey] |
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** [http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/ NOAA Office of Coast Survey] |
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** [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs/data_rescue_cgs_annual_reports.html U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Annual Reports, years 1837–1965] |
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* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/uscgs.htm Timeline] at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] website |
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* [http://www.peakbagging.com/Benchmark.htm Explanation of survey monuments] |
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* 1858 map: [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2473 ''Preliminary chart of entrance to Brazos River''] [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ hosted by the Portal to Texas History]. |
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* 1853 map: [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2481 ''Preliminary chart of San Luis Pass, Texas''] [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ hosted by the Portal to Texas History.] |
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* 1854 map: [http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2480 ''Preliminary survey of the entrance to the Rio Grande, Texas''] [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ hosted by the Portal to Texas History.] |
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{{ES_Government|state=collapsed}} |
{{ES_Government|state=collapsed}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Exploration of North America]] |
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[[Category:Geodesy organizations]] |
[[Category:Geodesy organizations]] |
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[[Category:Geographic data and information organizations in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Government agencies established in 1970]] |
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[[Category:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|National Geodetic Survey]] |
[[Category:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|National Geodetic Survey]] |
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[[Category:Government agencies established in 1807]] |
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[[Category:Exploration of North America]] |
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Latest revision as of 04:42, 11 May 2024
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication, mapping and charting, and a large number of science and engineering applications. Since its founding in 1970, it has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a division within the United States Department of Commerce.
History[edit]
The National Geodetic Survey's history and heritage are intertwined with those of other NOAA offices. It traces its history to the Survey of the Coast, which was formed in 1807 as the first scientific agency of the United States federal government. It became the United States Coast Survey in 1836 and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878, the latter name change reflecting the increasing role of geodesy in its work. Upon the creation of NOAA in 1970, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished and its responsibilities were split among various agencies and offices of NOAA. The Coast and Geodetic Survey′s former geodetic responsibilities were placed under the new National Geodetic Survey in NOAA's National Ocean Survey (later renamed the National Ocean Service).
In 2009, former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps officer Juliana P. Blackwell was named Director of the National Geodetic Survey, becoming the first woman to head either NGS or any of its ancestor organizations.
Purpose and function[edit]
The National Geodetic Survey is an office of NOAA's National Ocean Service. Its core function is to maintain the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), "a consistent coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, height, scale, gravity, and orientation throughout the United States".[1] NGS is responsible for defining the NSRS and its relationship with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). The NSRS enables precise and accessible knowledge of where things are in the United States and its territories.
The NSRS may be divided into its geometric and physical components. The official geodetic datum of the United States, NAD83 defines the geometric relationship between points within the United States in three-dimensional space. The datum may be accessed via NGS's network of survey marks or through the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network of GPS reference antennas. NGS is responsible for computing the relationship between NAD83 and the ITRF. The physical components of the NSRS are reflected in its height system, defined by the vertical datum NAVD88. This datum is a network of orthometric heights obtained through spirit leveling. Because of the close relationship between height and Earth's gravity field, NGS also collects and curates terrestrial gravity measurements and develops regional models of the geoid (the level surface that best approximates sea level) and its slope, the deflection of the vertical. NGS is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the NSRS over time, even as the North American plate rotates and deforms over time due to crustal strain, post-glacial rebound, subsidence, elastic deformation of the crust, and other geophysical phenomena.
NGS will release new datums in 2022.[2] The North American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 (NATRF2022) will supersede NAD83 in defining the geometric relationship between the North American plate and the ITRF.[3] United States territories on the Pacific, Caribbean, and Mariana plates will have their own respective geodetic datums. The North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 (NAPGD2022) will separately define the height system of the United States and its territories, replacing NAVD88.[3] It will use a geoid model accurate to 1 centimeter (0.4") to relate orthometric height to ellipsoidal height measured by GPS, eliminating the need for future leveling projects. This geoid model will be based on airborne and terrestrial gravity measurements collected by NGS's GRAV-D program as well as satellite-based gravity models derived from observations collected by GRACE, GOCE, and satellite altimetry missions.[4]
NGS provides a number of other public services.[1] It maps changing shorelines in the United States and provides aerial imagery of regions affected by natural disasters, enabling rapid damage assessment by emergency managers and members of the public. The Online Positioning and User Service (OPUS) processes user-input GPS data and outputs position solutions within the NSRS. The agency offers other tools for conversion between datums.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "National Geodetic Survey – What We Do". National Geodetic Survey Website. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ "New Datums". National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
- ^ a b US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Geodetic Survey. "Naming Conventions, New Datums". geodesy.noaa.gov.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Geodetic Survey. "xGEOID16 Evaluation Computation". beta.ngs.noaa.gov.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links[edit]
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