Pacific Services Center

Geodetic State Advisor Program

The Geodetic State Advisor program instructs local surveyors and state and municipal agencies on how to use and preserve the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). The NSRS provides the foundation for transportation, navigation, and communication; mapping and charting; and a multitude of scientific and engineering applications. The program provides a liaison between the NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and the host state, with an NGS employee residing in the state to guide and assist the state's geodetic, charting, surveying, remote sensing, and land information system programs in the Pacific region. The advisor program is designed to meet the need for accurate local surveys and to help states meet federal surveying standards and specifications.

The advisors

• Educate and train state personnel;
• Assist in planning and coordinating field surveys;
• Provide quality assurance;
• Assist state personnel in preparing data for inclusion into NSRS; and
• Serve as the primary contacts for relating user needs to NGS and transferring new technical developments to local users.

The NOAA Pacific Services Center's Pacific region geodetic advisor assisted with the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in a variety of applications:

• Coral reef mapping with the government of Palau.
• Determining the orthometric height of monitoring wells on Maui with the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division.
• Determining forestry boundaries with the State of Hawai`i's Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
• Improving the three-dimensional positioning capabilities in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands
• Providing technical assistance in geospatial positioning

For more information on NOAA's Geodetic Advisor program, visit www.ngs.noaa.gov.