2001

..Although the original pur– pose ofthe GPS program\\ as to pro– vide an accurate worldwide naviga– tion capability to U.S. military forces. civihan sc1enttsts soon learned to use the signals themselves, '' tthout ac– cessing the encrypted message. to detennmt accurate positions. For ci– " than users thts process takes a hnle more tune and effort. It was th1s un– anttctpated sc1en1tfic de\ elopment that gave nse to the GPS urnts m com– mon use by surveyors and engmeers today. In fact, satellite posmomng ts rapidly displacmg more com·entional terrestnal methods of surveymg and mappmg m datly use " For the East Central prOJeCt, one GPS unit '"as set up at each of the 1\\ o ne,.. l>urvey monuments to track and record atellite signals con– tinuously for 12 hour penods on t\\0 da:,s Once the data ts combmed and processed '' ith compauble mformn– non recorded simultaneously at con– tinuous!:, operating sttes in Okolona, Vicksburg and ~lob1le. the latnude and longttude of these two monu– ments \\til be known to an accuracy of t\\ o cenumeters: less than one mch! "The coordmates of the:.e pomts '' til be publtsbed b:, the ~a­ ttonal Geodetic Survey as part of the ational Spntial Reference System (NSRS)," said Shinkle. 'The NSRS ' defines the size and shape of the North Amencan continent and pro– VIdes the fundamental locational ref– erence frame for all mapping, survey– ing and engmeermg activmes in the counrry." lle added, "These t\\O points on the ECCC' campus are no ordmary members ofthe NSRS. With their two centimeter accuracy, these points will become two of only 11 points in Mississippt to meet this ·A– order' standard." Hamson added. "For years to come o~r surveying srudents wtll have access to 'real world' coordt– nates. These pomts will be used in many different teaching disciplines. And with the technology that is be– ing used and the changes ahead, these points will be valuable to all engmeers and surveyors."

East Cenual Commumty College Drafting andDesign Technology instructor Rtd..) Ham..on (left) and hts students track and record satellite signals over the nev; sun·ey monument rusks that were constructed on the north campus. Thev \\ere constructed with the help of the National Geodetic Survey wtth trackmg mstruments loaned by the U.S. Anny Crops of Engineers Distrtct Office m Vicksburg. (ECCC photo) ECCC is ''On the Map''

ing and asked ifhis agency could es– tablish two A-order points on our campus to be used by our students and the public." After Harrison and his stu– dents set the markers in place, the lo– cations and heights of the reference points were detennined through the use ofhigh-precision Global Position– ing System (GPS) instruments. Shinkle said, "Two of these sophisti– cated satellite tracking instruments, each about the size of a ream of pa– per, were on loan from the U.S. Anny Corps ofEngineers' District Office m Ytcksburg." Shinlde explained, "The Glo– bal PosttJonmg System ts comprised of a conste.• a· ...,... nf 2 sattlhtes :d

East C'.entral Commuruty Col– let:e' Dmftmg and Design Technol– og} Deparnnent has teamed up wnh ihe Nauonal Geodetic Survey, a divi– ston ofthe Kattonal Oceanic and At– mospheric Adrninistranon, to estab– hsh tv.o htghly accurate location and electton reference points on the Decatur campus, according to Kurt Shinkle, State GeodeticAdvisor. "The reference points them– J selves," Shmkle said, "are marked by brass survey monument disks set mto I the tops of massive concrete phnths c " set in the ground:· l East Central was selected for IS pro ect after draftm; and de~tgn :tn~l!Ol!n r:~'!K""u;~ Rid.; Hamson

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