The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is facing significant challenges due to staffing cuts imposed by the Trump administration. As the nation's oldest scientific agency, NGS plays a vital role in maintaining accurate spatial information, including coordinates and gravitational measurements. Experts warn that these staff losses could impede NGS's long-awaited efforts to update crucial geodetic data. As society increasingly relies on precise geographical information for various operations, the impact of these cuts raises serious concerns about the future functionality of the agency and its foundational role in geodesy.
Staff losses at the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), the oldest scientific agency in the US, could further cripple its mission and activities, including a long-awaited project to update the accuracy of these measurements, former employees and experts say.
'This work is kind of like oxygen. You don't know you need it until it's not there,' says Tim Burch, highlighting the critical nature of NGS's role in spatial information.
'NOAA remains dedicated to providing timely information, research, and resources...,' remarked NOAA spokesperson Alison Gillespie in response to the downsizing of NGS.
'Over the next 200 years, its mission expanded to cover the practice of geodesy: the science of calculating the shape of the Earth, its orientation in space, and its gravitational field,' demonstrating the importance of this agency's work.
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