University Times

The Department of Geology and Planetary Science, in collaboration with the Photogrammetry and Survey division of PennDOT and the National Geodetic Survey, is the first group in the state to upgrade its GPS continuously operating reference station (CORS) to record multiple satellite positioning systems.

This enhancement provides the capability to record both the U.S. and Russian GPS satellites’ data continuously, data that then are transferred to several reference location networks regionally, nationally and internationally. The data are important because they are used for almost all high-precision land surveying.

The GPS CORS also helps maintain and improve the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), which provides the foundation for transportation and communications; mapping and charting, and a number of scientific and engineering applications.

The  reference  station  also  keeps  the  measurements  consistent   with the International Terrestrial Reference System, a spatial reference system co-rotating with the Earth in its diurnal motion in space.