Feedback on the New Datums 2015 Geospatial Summit April 13 to 14, 2015 US Army Corps of Engineers Jim Garster

Our major products/services which will be affected by the new datums: Existing project maps; designs; studies Project O&M Manuals Our preparations to date include: Engineer Regulation (ER ) Policy on project vertical datums Engineer Manual (EM ) Guidance referencing project datums U-SMART (USACE Survey Monument Archival & Retrieval Tool) Keeps track of project control and ties to NSRS/NWLON Preparation US Army Corps of Engineers

We are excited because... Expected advantages of the new datums for your organization, its products, or services Consistency of vertical datums across the country Better relationship between geodetic and hydrologic datums Improved accuracy for GPS derived elevations We are concerned because... Expected challenges of the new datums for your organization, its products, or services Another vertical datum… Relationship between exiting/older datums and new datum Small changes might get ignored Potential dynamic datum Constantly changing coordinates Conversion tools more complex Advantages / Challenges US Army Corps of Engineers

The tools, products, or services we need most (from NGS or others) are: NGS should publish transformation routines/tools Need to include accuracy User defined epoch for output datasheet Command line application for transformations Superseded values need to be documented OPUS, connections to the NSRS The outreach we need most (from NGS or others): NGS should develop on-line tutorials on datums and importance of datum transformations. publication which describes the differences between NAD83/NAVD88 and the new datums Transition Tools / Outreach Needs US Army Corps of Engineers