Arizona Height Modernization Overview
The challenges of managing a rapidly growing state and the need to respond to emergencies and critical Homeland Security programs make it imperative that Arizona continue to develop and improve its geographic information infrastructure. Arizona Height Modernization provides a mechanism for significantly improving the currency and accuracy of our geographic information. This will greatly assist Arizona in managing critical issues, such as homeland and border security, wildland fires, drought monitoring and flood insurance mapping. A minimum annual cost savings of $5.6M has been estimated for Arizona if Height Modernization is implemented.
Background
Height Modernization is an effort of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), an agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to assist states in improving their geodetic control networks. A geodetic control network is the fundamental reference system used for all mapping activities, whether they are national or local in scope. Height Modernization began as a technical effort to utilize emerging Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to determine and propagate precise elevation, hence the name. The primary goal of Arizona Height Modernization is to establish a statewide geodetic network that efficiently supports all surveying, engineering and mapping activities.
The effort in Arizona to obtain Height Modernization funding is being led by the Arizona Professional Land Surveyors Association (APLS) and the Arizona Geographic Information Council (AGIC). Definition of a final implementation plan is currently underway by a Working Group of AGIC. This group is comprised of geospatial information professionals, surveyors, and engineers from Arizona State Lands Department, Arizona Department of Transportation, NGS, and private sector AGIC and APLS representatives.
Ten states have received annual funds ranging from approximately $500K to $3M. FY05 appropriations total $11.3M (see Table 1). To date no matching funds have been required and the only requirement placed on partners is for geodetic data resulting from projects funded under Height Modernization be placed in the public domain.
Table 1 - Height Modernization Program Funding Summary
| |
CA |
NC |
LA |
WI |
MS |
AL |
SC |
WA |
TX |
KY |
Total $ |
| FY01 |
1000 |
1000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2000 |
| FY02 |
1000 |
1000 |
1000 |
500 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3500 |
| FY03 |
1000 |
1000 |
500 |
500 |
500 |
|
|
|
|
|
3500 |
| FY04 |
1000 |
993 |
497 |
2989 |
500 |
1989 |
497 |
500 |
|
|
8965 |
| FY05 |
500 |
1000 |
497 |
3000 |
600 |
2000 |
|
500 |
750 |
500 |
9347 |
| Total |
4500 |
4993 |
2494 |
6989 |
1100 |
3989 |
497 |
1000 |
750 |
500 |
27312 |
Note: Amounts shown are appropriations in thousands of dollars
FY05 funding per HR4818 (30 Nov, 04) |
Arizona Height Modernization: The Need Today and the Promise Tomorrow
Rapid growth, wildland fires, Homeland and border security, drought, and flood management — these are among the challenges facing Arizona now. Through Height Modernization, existing technologies can be better integrated and used more cost effectively to enable Arizona to improve its ability to intelligently manage the issues it faces today. Importantly, it will also enable Arizona to build a spatial infrastructure that is well-positioned to take full advantage of inevitable future advances in technology. Height Modernization will help with today’s challenges while laying a foundation for tomorrow’s opportunities.
Benefits and Outcomes
Arizona Height Modernization will save money and improve the delivery of governmental services to the public. Initial benefits (within the first one to five years) will come from improved geodetic control, which will greatly improve the ability to map critical information within Arizona. Investment in Arizona Height Modernization will:
- Provide a more accurate, consistent, and efficient statewide digital land ownership model
- Enable reliable sharing of spatial information between organizations and reduce unnecessary duplication of data
- Lower the costs of surveying, mapping, and aerial photography throughout the state
- Reduce the time and cost of getting surveys from the private sector into the public record
- Allow a more economical determination of elevations for local engineering and mapping projects
While many of these benefits will be realized immediately, some of the technical issues behind accurately determining elevations using GPS are much more complex. Such issues are the main reason for the estimated total 10-year timeline. In addition to the benefits listed above, the end result of Arizona Height Modernization will be a tremendously improved system for determining elevations throughout the state, in terms of accuracy, accessibility, and vastly reduced user cost.