THE LUXURY OF GEOSPATIAL DATA IN ALASKA

Geospatial data is increasingly present in our daily lives, and it plays an integral role in National Park Service (NPS) science, wilderness management, park maintenance, and visitor safety. How do we determine the exact height of Denali? How can we find a wolf in 6 million acres of a park? How do we measure changes in glaciers? How can we find a lost person? Denali National Park and Preserve has stayed mostly unchanged since its creation 100 years ago, yet the way that scientists study the park has improved with technological advances. The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) maintains a database of passive control markers throughout the U.S. and is currently hosting a campaign to recover the existence and locations of these markers for incorporation into the National Spatial Reference System of 2022. Over 160 of the monuments exist within Denali National Park and Preserve, and less than 10 have been recovered in the past 30 years. The search for the benchmarks will not only add to the the national reference frame, but it will allow for survey-grade control points for future projects within the park and better integration of documents in GIS. Through the initiative to obtain GPS data in Denali National Park and Preserve, the park gains access to more accurate geospatial data, and in turn, the state of Alaska benefits from the work done in park.