U.S. National Geodetic Survey

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Closeup of a Geodetic Survey marker

National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States Federal executive agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a multitude of scientific and engineering applications. Since 1970, it has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United States Department of Commerce.

History

Creation

Logo celebrating the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey

The original predecessor agency of the NGS was the United States Coast Survey, created by Congress in 1807 to conduct a "Survey of the Coast".[1]

Earliest years

Progress moved ahead slowly and haltingly during the first 25 years. Not until August 29, 1811 did Mr. F. R. Hassler sail for Europe to obtain the proper instruments. He remained in Europe during the War of 1812, then he returned to the United States on August 16, 1815 with the proper instruments.

Mr. Hassler's plans were to employ triangulation to establish his system. Work began in the vicinity of New York City in 1816. The first base line was measured and verified in 1817. A new Act of Congress interfered with the work of Mr. Hassler in 1818. The army and navy were placed at the forefront of the Survey which generated a lull in activity which lasted from 1818 to 1832. The Coast survey was without a superintendent during the 14 years from 1818 to 1832 when the army was the primary authority.

Little work was produced until another Act of Congress was passed on July 10, 1832. It re-empowered the original Act of 1807. Mr. Hassler was re-appointed as the superintendent, and field work was resumed in April 1833.

The Navy Department was given the control of the survey from 1834 to 1836, but the Treasury Department resumed the administration of the survey on March 26, 1836. Hassler died in 1843.

Growth years

Professor Alexander Dallas Bache became superintendent of the Survey in 1843. Earlier in his life, he had established the first magnetic observatory. During his years as superintendent, he expanded the Survey southward along the Atlantic coast into the Florida Keys. He instituted regular and systematic observations of the tides and the Gulf Stream, and investigated magnetic forces and directions.

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 a criterion for the statistical treatment of outliers.[2]

For example, from 1836 until the establishment of the National Bureau of Standards in 1901, the Survey was responsible for weights and measures throughout the US.

Congressional expansion of duties

As the American continent was progressively explored, inhabited, and enclosed, the bureau took responsibility for survey of the interior. By 1871, Congress expanded its responsibilities to include geodetic surveys in the interior of the country and the name of the agency was changed in 1878 to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS).[1]

ESSA/NOAA years

From 1965 to 1970, the C&GS was transferred to the control of the Environmental Science Services Administration.[1] In 1970, ESSA expanded and was reorganized into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), of which the NGS is a constituent unit today.[1]

Survey leadership

Superintendents (1816-1919)

Frank Manly Thorn served as 6th Superintendent of the USC&GS.
  1. Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, (1816–1818 and 1832–1843)
  2. Alexander Dallas Bache, (1843–1865)
  3. Benjamin Peirce, (1867–1874)
  4. Carlile Pollock Patterson, (1874–1881)
  5. Julius Erasmus Hilgard, (1881–1885)
  6. Frank Manly Thorn, was the first non-scientist to head USC&GS (1885–1889)
  7. Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, (1889–1894)
  8. William Ward Duffield, (1894–1897)
  9. Henry Smith Pritchett, (1897–1900)
  10. Otto Hilgard Tittmann, (1900–1915)
  11. Ernest Lester Jones, (1915–1919)

Directors (1919-1968)

Rear Admiral Henry Arnold Karo served as the 4th head of USC&GS.
  1. Ernest Lester Jones, (1919–1929)
  2. Raymond Stanton Patton, (1929–1937)
  3. Robert Francis Anthony Studds, (1938–1955)
  4. Henry Arnold Karo, (1955–1965)
  5. James C. Tison, Jr., (1965–1968)

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey flag

File:U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey flag.png
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey flag, in use from 1899 to 1970.

The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized its own flag on January 16, 1899. The flag, which remained in use until the Survey became a part of NOAA in 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.

The NOAA service flag, in use today, 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 seabird, 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.[3]

Ships of the Survey

See also: Category:Ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
The USC&GS oceanographic research ship Pathfinder was re-commissioned as a US Navy vessel during World War II.

A partial list of the Survey ships follows:

Superintendents of Weights and Measures

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d NOAA, Coast and Geodetic Survey Heritage
  2. ^
  3. ^ Sea Flags: National Oceanic and Atmoshperic Administration at verizon

Bibliography

  • Peirce, Charles Sanders (1982 [1986 copyright]). "On the Theory of Errors of Observation [Appendix 21, according to the editorial note on page 515]". In Kloesel, Christian J. W.; et al. (eds.). Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Vol. Volume 3, 1872–1878. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 140–160. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |editor= (help)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
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