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USNG �in Florida

Richard Butgereit

GIS Administrator

850-413-9907

richard.butgereit@dca.state.fl.us

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United States National Grid

  • Lessons learned have taught us that standardized grids are needed for positional reporting.

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  • As far back as Hurricane Andrew, problems were recognized for emergency managers...

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What’s wrong with current systems?

  • We already have…

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    • Latitude/Longitude
    • Township/Range/Section
    • Street Address and Zip
    • UTM

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Latitude/Longitude

  • Multiple formats are confusing

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DD -85.990151, 30.272240

DM -85 59.409089, 30.16.334386

DMS 85 59’24.545”W, 30 16’20.063”N

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All the same location!!!

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How far is a second anyway?

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  • What is the distance from….

85 59’24.545”W, 30 16’20.063”N

  • To here….

85 59’26.292”W, 30 16’14.546”N

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Worse yet…

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  • What is the distance from

-85.990443, 30.275358

  • To here….

85 59.364547, 30 16.504539

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Township/Range/Section

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  • Township/Range/Section grid from the Public Lands Survey System is an important and good system…

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    • basis of land ownership records
    • been in use for over 180 years

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Township/Range/Section

  • But a perfect section really doesn’t exist

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    • irregular in coastal areas
    • too large to meet needs of ground crews

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Street Address and Zip

  • Problematic due to…
    • rural routes
    • post office boxes

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  • What do you do when the SIGNS are gone?

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  • What do you do when the ROADS are gone?

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Universal Transverse Mercator

  • Measuring distances and obtaining positional accuracy has always been a challenge.

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  • Following World War II, several European allies demonstrated the utility of grid-based conformal maps.

Abbreviated as “UTM”

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UTM

  • Calculating the distance between two points on these maps could be performed more easily in the field using the Pythagorean theorem instead of using trigonometric formulas required under the Latitude and Longitude system.

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UTM

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UTM

  • Developed by the United States Army in 1947
  • A position is reported by the UTM longitude zone, the distance from the central meridian (called the easting) and the distance from the equator (called the northing)

16R 766000 3364820

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Military Grid Reference System

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  • Based on UTM
  • Newer standard used by United States Armed Forces and NATO

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Abbreviated as “MGRS”

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MGRS

  • Uses a 2 to 10 character geocode
    • 2 digits implies precision of 10 km
    • 10 digits implies precision of 1 m
    • 100,000 m grids truncated and replaced with alpha-numeric grid

16R GU 66000 64820

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United States National Grid

  • Essentially the same as Military Grid Reference System…
  • So same format…

16R GU 66000 64820

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Abbreviated as “USNG”

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How to read USNG

16R GU 66000 64820

Grid Zone Designation – for a world-wide unique address, identifies the longitude zone number and the latitude band letter

100,000 Meter Grid – identification for regional areas

Grid Coordinates – Easting and Northing position

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Truncate for locality

16R GU 66000 64820

Just like you don’t have to dial an area code to make a local call…

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The Grid Zone designation and 100,000 meter designation may be dropped locally…

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Truncate for less accuracy…

66000 64820

Locates within 1000 meters

66 64

6600 6482

Locates within 10 meters

660 648

Locates within 100 meters

66000 64820

Locates within 1 meter

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USNG

  • Easily scaleable

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  • Pin-point and cell

based locational reporting

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  • “Grid within a Grid”

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Global Positioning Systems

  • I have GPS…why do I need to care about any of this?
    • USNG can be used with GPS
    • GPS supplements USNG
    • However, USNG can also work when GPS won’t

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USNG Sample Maps

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Support for USNG

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Support for USNG

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USNG in ArcGIS 9.1

  • USNG National Grid Tools

Repackaging of…

    • Military Analyst
    • PLTS
  • USNG Locational Toolbar

Available from ArcScripts

    • Less complicated, easier to use

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USNG in ArcGIS 9.2

  • Integrated…
    • Go to X,Y Tool

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    • Identify

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    • Graticules

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USNG in Other Applications

  • Delorme’s XMAP
  • GeoPDF
  • Dolph Maps
  • New USGS Quad Maps
  • The National Map

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Support for USNG

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Support for USNG

  • Guidance for building and using grids.
  • Style Guide for using USNG in ArcGIS
  • Downloadable grids

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Florida Geographic Data Library

  • To host 1,000 meter and 100 meter grids for each Florida county

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Florida Adopts the USNG

  • USNG was officially adopted by the FFCA
  • FDEM to adopt the USNG in the States CEMP
  • Updates of GIS/Maps in the 11 Regional Evacuation Studies will include USNG grids
  • Florida Fire College, Florida Fire Chiefs Association, Fl National Guard to develop curriculum and instructor manuals
  • FFC will be incorporating an intro module in the Firefighter II curriculum

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More information…

http://www.floridadisaster.org/gis/usng

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