LEAD AGENCY/BUREAU AND/OR SUBCOMMITTEE/WORKING GROUP REPORT (Agencies with Lead Responsibilities Assigned under the new Circular A-16 in Appendix E - http://www.fgdc.gov/publications/a16final.html#appendixe) (Please provide a separate report for each activity for which you have the lead)

1. Program/Activity Name:

Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee (FGCS)

2. What are the specific federal programs this data supports?

National Geodetic Survey (NGS) data support:

Bureau of Land Management,

Environmental Protection Agency,

Federal Emergency Management Agency,

Federal Aviation Administration,

Federal Communications Commission,

Federal Highway Administration,

Federal Railroad Administration,

National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

National Imagery and Mapping Agency,

National Institute of Science and Technology,

National Park Service,

NOAA Coast Survey,

NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory,

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

U.S. Census Bureau,

U.S. Coast Guard,

U.S. Department of Agriculture,

U.S. Geological Survey, and

U.S. Naval Observatory.

3. Uses of Data: How does your data benefit customers and support agency missions?

NGS – Customers use geodetic control data for spatial reference in positioning activities, particularly surveying, civil engineering, mapping, and charting. Providing these data is the primary mission of NGS.

4. Charter/Plan: Do you have a current charter or plan for collection? If so - please describe (include how recently the charter/plan was implemented and whether it is in need of update).

FGCS has a current charter, dated September 12, 1995. This charter remains viable and is not in need of significant update.

5. Metadata Status: Is metadata discoverable and served through the NSDI Clearinghouse? What percentage of this theme’s data has metadata and is in a Clearinghouse node?

Not at present, they are available via the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee Website and the NOAA Coastal Services Website. They will be published on the NSDI Clearinghouse as part of the Geospatial One-Stop effort.

6. Standards: What is the status of this theme’s data, process, transfer, and classification standards?

1. Progress: List FY 2001/2002 activities/progress to date (quantify where possible).

- Equipment tests - The July test of the Trimble GPS Total Station® 5700 system has been concluded. The raw data from the test are now available, but the FGCS preliminary letter, final report, and sponsor-supplied summary report are still pending. Providing the final reports has been a continuing challenge. Status report on the instrument test can be found on the FGCS web site: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/FGCS/instruments/reports/

- General meetings – Held September 11, 2001 and September 24, 2002.

- Standards – Developed draft Geodetic Control Data Standard, dated September 5, 2002 and currently under review by FGCS member agencies.

2. Policy: Do you have a formal agency policy in place for full and open access or data sharing? Are you able to fulfill this policy and provide public access with your current agency financial resources as allocated or are you in pursuit of collaborative federal partnerships to support data access?

NGS has an internal policy set November 30, 1994 and revised February 13, 2002 for making public geodetic control point information held by NGS. Positional data are made public from the NGS data base for geodetic control points of an unclassified or non-proprietary nature, that are within the borders of the United States, have coordinates resulting from rigorous geodetic adjustment procedure, adequately described, not known to be destroyed. In 2002, the policy was revised to include those foreign data holdings which have been authorized for publication by the country they reside in.

NGS is able to carry out this function under present funding allocations.

3. Are there areas or issues regarding lead responsibilities for spatial data themes that require attention, or lessons-learned that you would like to share with others? Please describe.