Federal Surveying and Mapping An Organizational Review (1981) / Chapter Skim
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From page 1... ...
The coordination of mapping, charting, geodesy, surveying, and multipurpose cadastre activities plays a key role in the support of the programs to meet these requirements. The present situation with respect to the proliferation of surveying, mapping, and related activities among the 39 federal agencies involved is not much different than it was in fiscal year 1972, the year used as the base for the 1973 Federal Mapping Task Force (FMTF)
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From page 2... ...
Vertical Control Network for North America, The expansion of the Geodetic Data Base to include lower-order surveys, The automation of hydrographic surveying and nautical charting, The greater use of orthophotographic techniques for mapping, The National Cartographic Information Center, The Cartographic Digital Data Base, and The use of geodetic methods for Cadastral Surveying in Alaska.
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From page 3... ...
The benefits to be derived from a consolidation of the civilian mapping, charting, geodesy, surveying, and cadastral agencies, in a manner similar to the consolidation that resulted in DMA, are considered. 1.5 PRINCIPAL RECOMMENDATIONS The primary recommendation resulting from this National Research Council review is that there be a single agency, aFederalSurreyingar~lMappingAdministration, for civilian mapping, charting, geodesy, surveying, and the multipurpose cadastre.
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From page 4... ...
Pending the establishment of a Federal Surveying and Mapping Administration, the existing liaison offices in the various states for the Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, Federal Highway Administration, Corps of Engineers, and National Geodetic Survey (a component of the National Ocean Survey) should be utilized for these cooperative programs.
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From page 5... ...
Because of the interface with surveying and mapping programs, the development of standards for a multipurpose cadastre and the lead role for coordination among local, state, and federal agencies should be among the responsibilities of a Federal Surveying and Mapping Administration. We recommend the recognition and support of a national strategy for the multipurpose cadastre within the proposed Federal Surveying and Mapping Administration and the full coordination of the multipurpose cadastre with the surveying and mapping programs.
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From page 6... ...
When commenting on the difficulties encountered in responding to the 1973 Task Force recommendations, none of the agencies addressed the principal recommendation, that is, the formation of a single civilian agency. In each of the four major civilian agencies, the surveying and mapping activities are not the primary concerns of the parent organization.
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From page 7... ...
2.1 SUMMARY OF THE 1973 REPORT The Federal Mapping Task Force was established by the Office of Management and Budget in 1971 to study civilian mapping, charting, geodesy, and surveying requirements, operations, products, and methods. This activity followed shortly after the consolidation of Department of Defense surveying and mapping activities into the Defense Mapping Agency.
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From page 8... ...
, issued to overcome some of these problems, had only been partially successful. The lead agencies, the Geological Survey and the National Ocean Suney, were not given a clear mandate to search for and identify duplication nor sufficient authority to influence other agencies' programs.
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From page 9... ...
The Task Force made many organizational, technical, and program-related recommendations with regard to the effective, efficient, and economical operation of civilian mapping, charting, geodesy, and surveying activities, but the principal recommendation had to do with the creation of a central civilian surveying and mapping agency. As proposed, the agency would have welldef~ned authority to manage and coordinate the activities of the entire civilian federal surveying and mapping community.
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From page 10... ...
Such an organization could give needed leadership and assure flexibility to meet current needs as well as new needs as they are identified. 2.2 PROGRESS TOWARD ACHIEVING FEDERAL MAPPING TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS 2.2.1 Honzontal Control The first section of the 1973 report, Land Surveys, includes recommendations directed toward the national geodetic networks.
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From page 11... ...
Other federal agencies, working through the Federal Geodetic Control Committee, have upgraded surveying techniques to national network accuracy standards. However, no federal land survey program funding has been reallocated as suggested in the 1973 recommendation.
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From page 12... ...
This Panel concurs with earlier recommendations that the National Geodetic Survey continue with its program for a new vertical control network. 2.2.3 Gravity Gravity in the Task Force report was included under Geophysical/Geological Surveys and Mapping, and the recommendations dealt with data classification, marine geophysical survey and mapping programs, and the planning and coordination of federal activities in marine science and engineering.
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From page 13... ...
This reorganization represents a major undertaking by the Geological Survey to consolidate its internal surveying and mapping programs and activities. The 1973 Task Force recommended that the Geological Survey dramatically expand the use of advanced technology for interim revision operations in the National Mapping Program.
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From page 14... ...
When adequately funded, the Geological Survey intends, as a long-term goal, to provide cartographic data in digital form for all of the United States, to maintain a national digital data base, and to offer digital service to other agencies. In support of further developing a national multipurpose Digital Cartographic Data Base (DCDB)
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From page 15... ...
2.2.7 Nautical and Aeronautical Charting The FMTF review of the hydrographic surveying activities of the federal agencies primarily recommended increased use of automated techniques for data collection and processing. The Task Force believed that a more efficient and effective schedule for chart production could be achieved and that the investment costs would yield significant savings and net cost avoidance.
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From page 16... ...
The 1973 Task Force, recognizing the complementary nature of the rectangular land system use for cadastral surveys and the national geodetic horizontal control network, made two recommendations related to the cadastral survey program. They recommended "transferring appropriate cadastral survey functions of BEM (excluding corner search and boundary marking)
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From page 17... ...
These techniques include applications for monitoring polar motion and crustal movement, for deteITruning the earth's gravity field and the shape of the geoid, and for various types of mapping including the altimetry of the sea surface. NASA, the National Geodetic Survey, and the Geological Survey are working with the Defense Mapping Agency on geodetic applications of the Global Positioning System, which is under development by the Department of Defense.
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From page 18... ...
The Federal Geodetic Control Committee, functioning under the directives of OMB Circular No. A-16, endeavors to coordinate these requirements for geodetic control, but the National Geodetic Survey has been unable to respond to all the requests for surveys from other federal agencies.
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From page 19... ...
Positive responses to such requests should be premised upon the following: · Potential of multipurpose use of specific programs; · Relative population density, land value, and resource potential; · Relative station benefit~ost ratio; and Availability of trained personnel. We recommend that the federal mapping, charting, geodesy, and surveying organizations: (aJ Continue to sponsor cooperative programs with state and local governments and that the budgetary procedures recognize these programs, and {bJ Maintain sufficient liaison representatives in each state to monitor the surveying and mapping activities in the community, coordinate the activities involving federal funds in order to avoid duplication and waste, and encourage the use of national specifications and standards so that local projects may be incorporated into the national surveying and mapping programs.
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From page 20... ...
is the agency responsible for the horizontal and vertical control networks and the respective data base to meet engineering requirements and actively participates in the scientific programs supporting geodynamics. The engineering and scientific aspects must be unified so they complement, not duplicate, each other.
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From page 21... ...
This use of modern technology is in sharp contrast to the statement in the 1973 report: "Cadastral surveys are of minimal value to the geodetic surveying community, and positions and areas based on the Cadastral network are not directly relatable to the geodetic network." Nevertheless, this Panel believes that the response has not been as full as it might be and makes the following recommendation: Recognizing the extensive effort in Cadastral surreys in Alaska and the need to expand the data base to include mor~mentation, documentation, and photoidentifcation of points to serve the needs of the mapping and geodetic programs, we recommend that the Cadastral effort be more fully coordinated with other federal mapping and geodetic agencies. When considering the total needs in Alaska for mapping, geodetic control, anal Cadastral surveys, this maximum coordination is essential.
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From page 22... ...
The geodetic data base contains the original observations and the adjusted data for the horizontal and vertical control networks. The nautical chart data bank contains the hydrographic survey information, that is, all soundings referenced to point coordinates, in addition to all the supporting navigational information that may be required for any chart at any scale.
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From page 23... ...
2.4 PROGRAM UPDATE SINCE THE FMTF REPORT The advances in technology and the shifts in national priorities are such that there are several major activities involving surveying and mapping that need to be identified and included in a review and update of the 1973 FMTF study. These include the scientific emphasis on national and international studies relating to geodynamics, the increasing importance of cadastral surveys, the maintenance of the federal highway system, the shifts of population toward the coastal zones with the associated development, and the federal support for urban renewal and community development.
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From page 24... ...
Possibly the most notable effort in this regard is the project POLARIS (Polar Motion Analysis by Radio Interferometric Surveying) initiated by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
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From page 25... ...
Few of the above-described activities had been foreseen and therefore were not included in the recommendations of the 1973 FMTF study. 2.4.2 Cadastre The section of the Task Force report dealing with federal cadastral surveys (pages 44-55)
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