Surveying Articles

Why NOAA Is The Most Important Agency You’ve Never Thought About

“Imagine trying to survey without GPS. No, seriously. Think about that for a second.”

Surveying without NOAA would be like navigating without a compass, designing a bridge without knowing the river’s depth, or, to put it bluntly, guessing instead of measuring. Yet, for most people, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) barely registers as more than just another government acronym—a quiet agency operating in the background, doing important things that few outside the geospatial and scientific communities ever think about.

This lack of public recognition is a problem. Because if NOAA suddenly disappeared or had its funding slashed, the consequences for land surveyors—and society at large—would be immediate and catastrophic.

Surveyors rely on NOAA for precise geospatial positioning, climate data, and infrastructure planning tools that keep our world aligned with physical reality. If the CORS network went offline tomorrow, for example, GPS accuracy would degrade within days, affecting not just surveying but construction, emergency response, and navigation. (Learn how NOAA safeguards GPS accuracy.)

Despite NOAA’s quiet importance, it doesn’t get the funding attention it deserves. Agencies like NASA get the spotlight with high-profile space missions, but NOAA’s work is just as critical—if not more so—to daily life. While the public marvels at space exploration, they rarely think about the satellites monitoring Earth itself, feeding essential geospatial data into mapping systems, weather forecasting, and disaster recovery efforts.

Surveyors cannot afford to be passive observers while NOAA’s funding and influence are debated in political circles. It’s time to make NOAA’s value visible to the world—because once it’s gone, the consequences won’t be hypothetical. They’ll be painfully real.

If you’re interested in how NOAA’s role ties into the larger fight for geospatial integrity, read about how surveyors must defend their profession from private control.

NOAA: The Invisible Backbone of Your Work

Surveyors rely on NOAA every single day—whether they realize it or not. This agency isn’t just monitoring the weather; it’s maintaining the geospatial foundation that makes modern surveying possible. Without NOAA’s efforts, coordinate systems would drift, GPS corrections would fail, and accurate elevation data would cease to exist.

The backbone of surveying precision lies in NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS), which maintains the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS)—a complex framework of coordinate systems, elevations, and gravitational measurements that ensures every surveyor, engineer, and scientist is working from the same baseline. Without NSRS, the concept of “accuracy” in land measurement would collapse. (Learn why consistent geospatial standards matter.)

Key NOAA Contributions That Surveyors Depend On

• National Geodetic Survey (NGS) – Defines and maintains the NSRS, ensuring that every latitude, longitude, and elevation measurement remains consistent across the country.
• CORS Network (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) – Provides real-time GNSS corrections, allowing surveyors to achieve centimeter-level accuracy in positioning.
• Satellite Operations – Monitors the Earth’s atmosphere, gravitational shifts, and land deformations to ensure GPS data remains accurate and reliable.

Without NOAA, surveyors would be left to rely on outdated maps, unstable coordinate systems, and commercial datasets that may or may not be accurate. NOAA’s infrastructure doesn’t just support surveying; it enables industries ranging from aviation to disaster response, and even autonomous vehicle navigation.

Why Surveyors Can’t Ignore NOAA’s Importance

Surveyors may not work directly for NOAA, but their work depends on the data NOAA provides. If funding cuts or privatization efforts weaken NOAA’s ability to maintain geospatial integrity, the profession could face data inconsistencies, inaccurate positioning, and increased litigation over boundary disputes.

It’s easy to take NOAA for granted—until it’s too late. If you think losing control of geospatial data is just a hypothetical concern, consider how Big Tech is already reshaping mapping standards without professional oversight (read more on the dangers of privatized mapping).

GPS Without NOAA: Welcome to Surveying’s Stone Age

Surveyors have spent decades refining technology that allows for millimeter-level accuracy in positioning—but what happens if the critical systems that support this precision suddenly disappear? Without NOAA’s infrastructure, GPS would degrade rapidly, and surveyors would be thrown back into an era of manual triangulation, tape measures, and compasses—tools that, while historically important, are no match for modern efficiency demands.

NOAA’s Critical Role in GPS Accuracy

It’s a common misconception that GPS is a self-sufficient system operated solely by the Department of Defense. While it’s true that the DoD maintains the satellites themselves, NOAA plays a crucial role in making GPS data usable for high-precision work. Through the CORS network and the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), NOAA ensures that:

• Satellite-based positioning data is continuously refined and corrected for atmospheric distortion, gravitational shifts, and tectonic movements.
• Real-time GNSS corrections provide surveyors with centimeter-level accuracy, preventing boundary miscalculations that could result in costly legal disputes.
• Long-term positional stability is maintained through geodetic surveys, which keep coordinate reference systems consistent over time.

What Happens If NOAA Disappears?

Without NOAA’s geospatial infrastructure, GPS accuracy would degrade within days. Surveyors would experience:

• A drop in precision from centimeters to multiple meters, creating errors large enough to disrupt property boundaries, construction projects, and transportation systems.
• Delayed or halted infrastructure projects due to unreliable spatial data.
• A spike in legal disputes as survey data becomes inconsistent across different sources.
• Emergency response systems failing due to inaccurate positioning of disaster-affected areas.

Imagine a world where you mark a property line today, only to find it’s drifted by two meters next week. That’s not a hypothetical scenario—it’s what would happen if NOAA were defunded or its programs weakened.

Surveying Without NOAA: A Costly, Inefficient Future

Without NOAA’s corrections, surveyors would be forced to rely on private companies for geospatial data—at a premium cost. Large corporations could charge for access to datasets that NOAA currently provides for free, making high-accuracy surveying a privilege only large firms can afford.

If you think this is an exaggerated concern, consider how private companies are already attempting to dominate geospatial data. Surveyors must act now to protect the integrity of public geospatial infrastructure—before it’s too late.

Climate Data and Disaster Recovery: Why Surveyors Need NOAA

Surveyors aren’t just measuring land—they’re helping build the infrastructure of the future. But what happens when that land shifts, floods, or erodes due to climate change? NOAA’s role goes beyond GPS corrections; its climate monitoring and disaster response capabilities are indispensable for land use planning, infrastructure development, and post-disaster recovery.

Surveying in a World of Increasing Climate Disasters

The past two decades have seen an increase in extreme weather events, from record-breaking hurricanes to historic floods and wildfires. Surveyors play a crucial role in assessing damage, rebuilding communities, and ensuring safe, sustainable land use—but without NOAA’s data, they would be working in the dark.

NOAA provides:

• Coastal mapping and storm surge modeling to guide rebuilding efforts in hurricane-affected areas.
• Floodplain maps and real-time hydrological data, critical for determining which areas are prone to future flooding.
• Tide and erosion monitoring, essential for surveyors working in coastal regions where land is literally disappearing.

Case Studies: When NOAA Made the Difference

• Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Ian (2022) – NOAA’s storm surge models and flood mapping guided emergency responders and surveyors in assessing damage and planning rebuilding efforts.
• Kentucky Floods (2022) – NOAA’s floodplain maps allowed surveyors to redesign communities with better flood mitigation strategies, preventing future disasters.
• California Wildfires (2018-2023) – NOAA’s satellite-based burn area assessments helped surveyors evaluate land stability and determine where rebuilding was possible.

Without NOAA’s geospatial intelligence, surveyors would be left guessing in disaster-stricken regions, increasing the risk of rebuilding in unsafe areas or underestimating future environmental threats. (Learn more about NOAA’s role in defining geospatial accuracy.)

Why Surveyors Must Protect NOAA’s Climate Science

Surveyors rely on climate-informed geospatial data to ensure that roads, bridges, and buildings are designed to withstand future conditions. Without NOAA, this data would either disappear or be locked behind expensive private-sector paywalls.

Imagine trying to assess a flood-prone development site with no reliable floodplain data. That’s the future we face if NOAA is defunded or weakened. If you think surveying without GPS is bad, try surveying without climate intelligence—it’s a recipe for catastrophic planning failures.

Surveyors must advocate for publicly funded, publicly accessible environmental data—otherwise, the next major disaster won’t just be a natural one, but a failure of foresight.

If you’re interested in how NOAA’s geospatial work connects to broader issues of data control, read about the fight to keep surveying data in the hands of professionals.

The Silent Heroes of Satellite Data

When people think of satellites, they picture NASA missions, deep space exploration, or flashy private ventures like SpaceX. What they don’t realize is that some of the most important satellites in orbit aren’t looking at the stars—they’re looking at Earth.

NOAA operates one of the most crucial satellite programs for geospatial professionals, delivering topographic mapping, coastal erosion monitoring, land-use tracking, and climate analysis. These satellites are not just generating pretty weather maps—they are directly responsible for maintaining the accuracy of surveyor data.

How NOAA’s Satellites Impact Surveying

• GOES Satellites – These geostationary satellites provide real-time weather and climate monitoring, essential for long-term land-use planning and disaster preparedness.
• Landsat Missions – NOAA’s collaboration with USGS delivers decades of high-resolution Earth imagery, allowing surveyors to track land development, vegetation changes, and coastal shifts over time.
• Jason Satellites – These measure sea-level rise and oceanic shifts, providing essential data for surveyors working in coastal zones.

Without NOAA’s Satellites, Surveyors Lose More Than Just Maps

If NOAA’s satellite programs were defunded or handed over to private corporations, surveyors would face:

• Increased costs for essential geospatial data – Free, publicly available datasets would become premium products controlled by private firms.
• Delayed access to crucial environmental changes – Surveyors monitoring shifting coastlines, flood zones, and urban expansion would have limited access to up-to-date imagery.
• Less accurate land-use planning – Development projects would be built without accurate climate and terrain forecasting, leading to costly future corrections.

Private companies are already trying to monetize geospatial data that was once freely available. (See how corporate control of geospatial information is changing the industry.) If NOAA’s satellite programs are weakened, surveyors could be forced to purchase the very data that has historically been public.

Surveyors Must Speak Up for Public Geospatial Infrastructure

Surveyors must push for continued investment in NOAA’s satellite programs to ensure unrestricted access to high-quality geospatial data. If surveyors don’t lead this fight, corporations will—and they’ll do it in their own financial interest, not for accuracy or public benefit.

If you’re interested in how surveyors can actively shape AI and satellite data policies, read about the fight to control the future of mapping.

Who Benefits from NOAA’s Demise?

If NOAA were to be defunded, dismantled, or privatized, the consequences would be catastrophic for surveyors, engineers, emergency planners, and the general public. But while professionals who rely on accurate geospatial data would suffer, certain industries would stand to gain immensely.

The Real Winners in a NOAA-Less World

• Big Tech & Private Mapping Companies – Without NOAA providing free geospatial data, corporations would step in to fill the void—at a price. Companies that already control major mapping platforms, like Google, Apple, and Esri, would capitalize on selling the very data NOAA once provided for free.
• Commercial Satellite Firms – If NOAA’s satellite operations were privatized, private firms could monetize geospatial imagery, charging surveyors and government agencies exorbitant fees for access to critical environmental data.
• Large Engineering and Development Firms – The loss of NOAA’s publicly accessible datasets would disproportionately harm small surveying firms, municipalities, and independent professionals who rely on free, accurate reference materials. Large corporations could absorb the cost of purchasing high-quality geospatial data, while smaller businesses would struggle to compete.

This shift wouldn’t just be an inconvenience—it would fundamentally alter how surveyors access and use geospatial information.

The Cost of Losing NOAA’s Public Data

Currently, NOAA provides decades of precise climate, geodetic, and mapping data for free or at minimal cost. Without it, surveyors would face:

• Increased operating costs – Accessing essential geospatial datasets would become a paid service, controlled by corporate interests.
• Greater data disparity – Large firms with deeper pockets could afford the best geospatial intelligence, while smaller firms would be left working with lower-quality, outdated information.
• Loss of public trust – If land-use data becomes proprietary, there is no guarantee it will be accurate, transparent, or unbiased.

If you think surveyors losing access to critical geospatial data is an exaggerated concern, look at how Big Tech is already taking control of mapping standards. The battle over NOAA is not just about funding—it’s about who controls the fundamental truths of geospatial reality.

Surveyors Must Defend Public Geospatial Data

If NOAA disappears, surveyors won’t just lose access to GPS corrections, climate forecasting, or satellite data—they’ll lose the ability to operate independently of corporate influence.

Surveyors must:

• Advocate for continued NOAA funding and oppose efforts to privatize geospatial data.
• Educate clients and lawmakers about how NOAA’s free and publicly available datasets keep surveying accessible and affordable.
• Collaborate with professional organizations to fight against legislation that could weaken NOAA’s ability to provide public geospatial data.

If you’re interested in how surveyors can fight for the integrity of their profession, read about the battle to control the future of geospatial information.

Protecting NOAA: Surveyors Must Advocate for Geospatial Integrity

Surveyors can’t afford to be bystanders in the fight to protect NOAA. The agency provides the backbone of modern surveying, yet its funding and authority are constantly at risk. If NOAA’s programs are weakened or eliminated, surveyors will lose access to critical data, and geospatial accuracy will become a pay-to-play industry controlled by private corporations.

How Surveyors Can Take Action

1. Educate Clients, Lawmakers, and the Public

• Most people have no idea how much NOAA impacts their daily lives. Surveyors must take the lead in explaining that GPS accuracy, climate data, and disaster planning all rely on NOAA’s continued operation.
• Clients need to understand that if NOAA disappears, the cost of surveying will rise due to the loss of free, high-quality geospatial data.
• Lawmakers, particularly at the state and federal levels, must hear directly from surveyors about why NOAA funding is not optional.

2. Advocate for Sustained or Increased NOAA Funding

• Contacting legislators, participating in public hearings, and working with industry organizations like NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors) can help ensure NOAA remains well-funded.
• Surveyors should partner with engineers, city planners, and environmental scientists to demonstrate NOAA’s wide-reaching impact beyond just land measurement.
• If NOAA’s funding is cut, it won’t just affect surveyors—it will disrupt everything from disaster response to infrastructure development.

3. Push for Publicly Accessible Geospatial Data

• Private companies should not be allowed to monopolize mapping data, yet that’s exactly what could happen if NOAA’s free datasets disappear.
• Surveyors must fight for open-access geospatial resources, ensuring that accurate positional data remains available to professionals of all backgrounds, not just those who can afford premium data subscriptions. (Learn how corporate interests are taking control of mapping.)

Conclusion: Ignoring NOAA Isn’t an Option

Surveyors have a choice: Defend NOAA now or deal with the consequences later. If the agency loses funding, the industry will be left scrambling for alternative solutions—ones that will likely come at a steep cost, both financially and professionally.

Imagine a world where:

• GPS accuracy drifts unpredictably because no one is maintaining correction networks.
• Geospatial data is locked behind corporate paywalls, accessible only to those who can afford it.
• Surveying becomes less accurate, more expensive, and dominated by private interests.

That world is closer than most realize—unless surveyors take a stand.

If you’re interested in how surveyors can shape the future of geospatial data, read about how professionals can push back against corporate control.