GPS HAPPENINGS IN GILA COUNTY The Survey Department within Public Works is proud to announce the establishment of a GPS receiver in the Star Valley Maintenance Yard that can serve the Northern portions of Gila County. The Star Valley site was selected after attempting to locate the device within the Payson Town limits and not finding a suitable location that had the requisite security, power, inernet connectivity and an area without many trees that would obstruct the view of the GPS signals. This device was established in collaboration with the Arizona State Land Department-State Cartographer's Office (AZSLDSC) and local Office of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) for their National Continuously Operating Reference Station (NCORS) Network (http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS). This unit joins a network of approximately 1,400 stations world-wide. NCORS is the fundamental basis of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) upon which virtually all mapping and surveying projects in the United States are conducted. The station allows corrections to be applied to GPS equipment that supports such actions and where high-accuracy results are required. Consumer grade GPS devices such as the handheld units commonly sold for hiking and hunting as well as vehicle navigation equipment will not directly benefit from this service. The primary users of this service will be the surveying and engineering firms working in the area. This State Land Department is operating the device to support two different methods. The first is via standard CORS/OPUS methods found on the NGS website at http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS. The second is via AZCORS initiative where cell phone/internet equipped GPS receiver can receive corrections in the field within 35km (~22 miles) of the station. This encompases, at extremes, Strawberry to the West, Jakes Corner to the South, Woods Canyon Lake and Young to the East and North to Clint's Well. Actual operation distances would be somewhat shorter. The leading benefit of this service is the ability of the Land Survey to quickly go to work in the coverage area without setting up an independend GPS base station that might be easily stolen. Persons wishing to connect to the service should contact the State Cartographer's Office via the AZCORS website at www.AZHMP.org. For additional information, you can contact Tom Homan, GIS Coordinator, Globe, AZ, at 928-402-8515 or thoman@co.gila.az.us. |