Use of GPS‐Derived Coordinates in GIS Environment

Abstract

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) will become increasingly important for engineers and planners because of their inherent ability to provide both positional and attribute information about the land. In the past, the expense involved in tying land‐related information to a common, accurate geographic base was largely prohibitive. With the advent of the GPS (global positioning system), a new avenue has been opened to surveyors and others to measure relative geographic positions quickly and accurately. A high‐accuracy GPS reference network provides the means of resolving differences in horizontal datums, which is the most serious obstacle to relating data from disparate sources within a GIS. Initiatives are being taken in New Mexico to establish such a network as a public resource. The New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department will use the network as the basis for developing a statewide parcel‐level highway data base. This will be part of a statewide effort to promote the improvement and sharing of geographic information.