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New Geodesy Guidance Note for the US Gulf of Mexico released by the Geomatics Committee

The new Geomatics Committee Guidance Note 26 (IOGP Report 373-26) describes the recommended practice for the use of coordinate reference systems (CRSs) and coordinate transformations (CTs) between CRSs for the US Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (GoM OCS).

It replaces IOGP Report 373-17, which had a similar title as this document, but has now been withdrawn (it remains available as an historic document).

For exploration and production (E&P) activities, consistency in coordinates is as important as absolute accuracy. The Guidance Note describes two issues that impact coordinate consistency on the US GoM OCS.

  • Firstly, the issue of NADCON which traditionally has been used vs. the recently published NADCON5 transformation method that yields different results.
  • Secondly, the issue of dealing with operational GNSS measurements made in a dynamic CRS (WGS 84) vs. reporting in a static CRS such as NAD27 and NAD83.

The Report is aimed at survey professionals working in oil and gas in this area, both in operating companies and contractors/service providers.

Copies of the Guidance Note 26 can be downloaded free from the IOGP Bookstore.

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