Grand  Junc*on  Sept.  24,  2014  

Four  Corners  Region  –  GPS  Control  Sta4ons  

G e o d e t i c --------------

h7p://bungalowbillscw.blogspot.com/  2009/04/government-­‐mistake-­‐four-­‐corners.html

h7p://owencogis.weebly.com/mapping-­‐blog.html  

109deg W

37deg N Four Corners

2.5 mi

Albuquerque  Journal  –  April  30,  2009  

Washington Meridian - Old  Naval  Observatory  

(1850-1912)

1863 Act of Congress

Separated  Arizona  &  New  Mexico  at  32nd  Meridian  West  of    

Washington Meridian

77deg – 03min W (Greenwich)

The  Washington  Meridian  

!  established  by  Congress  in  1850  !  longitude…it’s  all  about  *me!    !  telegraph:    

!  1844  –  Washington-­‐Bal*more  (“What  hath  God  wrought?”)    !  1861  –  trans-­‐North  America  !  1866  –  trans-­‐Atlan*c  !  specified  for  astronomical  &  domes*c  purposes  -­‐  (Greenwich  for  nau*cal  &  interna*onal  purposes)  

!  defined  by  Old  Naval  Observatory  in  D.C.  !  used  for  most  Western  State  boundaries  (not  AK,  CA,  TX)  !  1884  Interna*onal  Meridian  Conference  (D.C.)  !  repealed  by  Congress  in  1912  in  favor  of  Greenwich  

11  miles    49.39  chains  

Chandler Robbins AZ-NM Survey

32nd  Meridian  West  of    Washington  Meridian  (=109  deg  –  03  min  W)  

1868:  Ehud  Darling  –    CO  &  NM  Terr.  

1875:  Chandler  Robbins  –    AZ  &  NM  Terr.  

37  deg    N  la4tude  

“It seems to have been the general impression that the line was the 109 degrees of longitude west of Greenwich. Such is not the case, as the law makes it 32 degrees of longitude west from Washington, which corresponds to 109 degrees 02 minutes 59.25 seconds west from Greenwich, and which places the line a small fraction less than three miles farther west than would have been the case if it had been run as the 109 degrees of longitude.”

Chandler  Robbins,  GLO  Surveyor  

Le7er  to  the  Editor  -­‐    Santa  Fe  New  Mexican  -­‐  November  1,  1875  

The  Four  Four  Corners  Surveys  

1868:  Ehud  Darling  –    CO  &  NM  Terr.  

1878:  Rollin  Reeves  –    State  of  CO  &  UT  Terr.  

1901:  Howard  Carpenter  –  AZ  &  UT  Terr.  

1875:  Chandler  Robbins  –    AZ  &  NM  Terr.  

Shared  OPUS  Solu*ons

“The location of anything is becoming

everything.” ESRI  2009  User  Conference  Opening  Plenary  

William Stone william.stone@noaa.gov