Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, was selected by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to capture gravity-based vertical datum as part of the Gravity for Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) project. The collected data will contribute to the development of a new national vertical datum, which will provide improved height information for the entire U.S. Gathering accurate heights are needed to better mitigate the threats to low-lying communities and coastal ecosystems from inundation by storms, flooding, tsunamis, and sea level rise.
As part of the National Geodetic Survey’s (NGS) federal mandate, Dewberry, along with Dynamic Aviation, will provide accurate positioning to all federal, non-military mapping agencies in the U.S. The GRAV-D project has already successfully used airborne gravity observations to collect precise gravity measurements in some areas, but about 60 percent of the targeted surface area still needs to be surveyed, including portions of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific Island holdings, and most of the contiguous U.S.
Dewberry is managing the project, including all communication, planning, and reporting. The project is currently underway and is expected to be completed by 2022.
