National Spatial Reference System

The NSRS consists of a National Shoreline, the NOAA CORS Network[2] (a system of Global Positioning System Continuously Operating Reference Stations), a network of permanently marked points, and a set of models that describe dynamic geophysical processes affecting spatial measurements.

[3] In 2025 or 2026, the NSRS will be modernized with a focus on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and geoid use.

It will use the following four frames of reference, each representing a tectonic plate:[4][5] The North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 (NAPGD2022) is a new geodetic datum set to be produced by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey in 2025 or 2026 to improve the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS).

The new reference frames will rely primarily on GNSS, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as on a gravimetric geoid model resulting from NGS' Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) Project.

These new reference frames are intended be easier to access and to maintain than NAD 83 and NAVD 88, which rely on physical survey marks that deteriorate over time.