Introducing two spatial reference frames for regions of the Pacific ocean
Snay RA. 2003. Introducing two spatial reference frames for regions of the Pacific ocean. Surveying and Land Information Science. 63(1):5-12
The current realization of the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) is defined in terms of a Helmert transformation from the International Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2000 (ITRF00). The parameters of this transformation were chosen, in part, so that horizontal NAD 83 velocities would be zero on average for points interior to the North American tectonic plate. Unfortunately, islands located in the Pacific Ocean move horizontally by as much as several centimeters per year relative to the North American plate. To address this motion, this document introduces two new spatial reference frames in terms of transformations from ITRF00, one frame for regions located on the Pacific tectonic plate (Hawaiian Islands, Marshall Islands, American Samoa) and one for regions located on the Mariana tectonic plate (Guam, Rota, Saipan). For each frame, points located interior to the corresponding tectonic plate are to have little or no horizontal velocity relative to this frame. The Pacific-plate-fixed frame is to be designated as NAD 83 (PACP00) and the Mariana-plate-fixed frame as NAD 83 (MARP00). These frames are defined so that their positional coordinates are consistent with corresponding positional coordinates of the current NAD 83 realization for an epoch date of 14 AUG 1993.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Snay, Richard
- Units
- AMME , NPSA , PACN , WAPA
- Keywords
- American Samoa, Guam, Mapping, Saipan, spatial reference