SpatialNews Press Release

NGS Goes to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah!

www.ngs.noaa.gov

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In recognition of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has established a commemorative high accuracy geodetic reference station on the campus of the University of Utah. This effort was undertaken cooperatively with the Utah Council of Land Surveyors, the City of Salt Lake, Salt Lake County, and the University of Utah. Monumented with a beautiful, custom-made 10-inch-diameter brass disk, station SALT LAKE 2002 is located just a short distance from the University's Rice-Eccles Stadium, site of the Games' opening and closing ceremonies. As well as commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics, SALT LAKE 2002 is designed to showcase the important roles that geodesy, surveying, and mapping technologies play in our lives.

Two dozen people gathered at the station site on February 5 to help with the final details of the monument's construction. Dale Bennett, Utah Council of Land Surveyors State Chairman, welcomed the group and William Stone, NGS State Geodetic Advisor in New Mexico, spoke about the significance of the station and the role of geospatial technologies in the Olympics and in our everyday lives. Following these presentations, a real-time kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning System (GPS) survey was performed to determine the position of the new station. Participants were invited to work with handheld GPS equipment so that they too could experience GPS technology.

In the near future, SALT LAKE 2002 will be included in a regional control survey that will rigorously tie the station into the National Spatial Reference System. The station's descriptive and coordinate data will then be available at the NGS website (www.ngs.noaa.gov). Long after the 2002 Olympics have left Salt Lake City, SALT LAKE 2002 will provide the means for Salt Lake City's surveying and mapping community to access the National Spatial Reference System (PDF).

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Mar 1, 2002 Jun 26, 2002