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Archive of NOAA Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network (NCN)

browse graphicNCEI Archive of NGS CORS data
The National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) NOAA Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network (NCN) provides Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data consisting of carrier phase and code range measurements in support of three dimensional positioning, meteorology, space weather, and geophysical applications throughout the United States, its territories, and a few foreign countries. Surveyors, GIS users, engineers, scientists, and the public at large that collect GPS data can use CORS data to improve the precision of their positions. CORS enhanced post-processed coordinates approach a few centimeters relative to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), both horizontally and vertically. The CORS network is a multi-purpose cooperative endeavor involving government, academic, and private organizations. The sites are independently owned and operated. Each agency shares their data with NGS, and NGS in turn analyzes and distributes the data free of charge.
  • Cite as: NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS). 1994. NOAA Archive of NGS National Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) Network (NCN) [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/wc4r-ee36. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.ngdc.stp.terrestrial:G10019
XML
Order Data
Distribution Formats
  • ASCII (Version:2.11)
    • File Specification: Receiver Independent Exchange Format (RINEX)
    • File Compression: GNU zip compression (gzip)
  • binary
    • File Specification: Binary data from receiver manufacturer. Note that binary data from the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System (FAA WAAS) has been translated from the manufacturer binary by the FAA into the FAA binary format called National Satellite TestBed (NSTB).
    • File Compression: GNU zip compression (gzip), tar file format package
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact Francine Coloma
(303) 497-3692
ngs.cors@noaa.gov
Coverage Description CORS data is collected throughout the United States, its territories, and a few foreign countries.
Time Period 1994-02-01 to Present
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West:-180.00
East:180.00
South:-90.00
North:90.00
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
Publication Dates
  • publication: 1994-04-22
Dataset Progress Status ongoing
Data Update Frequency Daily
Supplemental Information
The United States operates the Global Positioning System (GPS). The term Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) has been created to reference all navigation satellite systems. GNSS encompasses the U.S. GPS system, the Russian Federation GLONASS system, and any future systems such as Europe's Galileo or China's Compass.
Purpose The CORS data set enables users to attain centimeter-level positioning for points of interest and can be used to measure crustal motion, moisture content for the lower atmosphere, and total electronic content in the upper atmosphere. NGS publishes coordinates for CORS in several reference frames. This includes the current global reference frame from the International GNSS Service (IGS), and with respect to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) realizations of the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) as defined by NGS.
Use Limitations
  • While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
  • These data are considered raw and have not been subjected to the NOAA's quality control or quality assurance procedures. They are released for limited public use as preliminary data to be used only with appropriate caution. NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS). 1994. NOAA Archive of NGS National Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) Network (NCN) [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/wc4r-ee36. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
Publishers
  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Acknowledgments
  • NGS coordinates a network of CORS stations from approximately 200 organizations such as federal, state, and local governments, academia, the private sector, and international groups.
Theme keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Coordinate Reference Systems
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Coordinate Reference Systems > Country/Regional Coordinate Reference System
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Coordinate Reference Systems > Global Coordinate Reference System
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Ellipsoid Characteristics
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Geoid Characteristics
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Control Surveys
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geodetics > Crustal Motion
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Geomorphic Landforms/Processes
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Solid Earth > Gravity/Gravitational Field
NOS Data Explorer Themes
  • Geodetic/Global Positioning
Data Center keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Platform keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
  • GPS > Global Positioning System Satellites
  • NAVSTAR > NAVSTAR Global Positioning System
  • GLONASS > GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema
  • GNSS > Global Navigation Satellite System
Instrument keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
  • Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GPS > GPS Receivers
  • Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GPS > GNSS Receivers
Place keywords Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
  • United States
Project keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Project Keywords
  • NOAA > National Geodetic Survey (NGS) > Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS)
Use Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Access Constraints
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Other Constraints Cite as: NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS). 1994. NOAA Archive of NGS National Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) Network (NCN) [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/wc4r-ee36. Accessed [date].
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for:series
Lineage Statement GNSS observational data from the CORS network are ingested, translated, and processed by NGS and are posted to the NGS online servers as hourly or daily files, and ultimately retained as daily files in RINEX format. After 30 days, data in the at-sampling rate is copied to the NCEI archive, and NGS online holdings are then decimated to a 30-second sampling rate. Special use case: Certain groups such as the Federal Aviation Administration, make GNSS data available in binary format to NGS. These data are used as input to algorithms for internal NOAA models such as the US-Total Electron Content product. The Data Center, not NGS, has decided to archive the raw data from these stations as a daily tar file consisting of hourly binary files
Processor
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey
  • NOAA National Geodetic Survey
  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Processing Steps
  • 1994-02-01T00:00:00 -INGEST: NGS has automated daily routines that harvests daily observational files in either binary or RINEX format at the original sampling rate, the daily broadcast ephemeris files, orbit files, and any corresponding meteorological files. For the special case use of FAA and USCG streaming data that are used as input to NOAA models, the streaming feed is harvested to a binary, incrementally-built hourly file.
  • 1994-02-01T00:00:00 -PROCESSING: Data ingested by NGS are processed into RINEX format and made available online in either an hourly or daily cadence. Aside from positioning, processing includes the insertion of NGS headers, quality checks, and the production of quality control files (teqc summary files). Other scheduled routines retrieve higher level orbit files as they are made available.
  • 1994-02-01T00:00:00 -DISTRIBUTION: NGS makes hourly and daily files available online. For the special case of binary FAA and USCG data, NGS pushes these files to the Data Center every 5 minutes. The Data Center stages the data for internal NOAA groups, who harvests the data at a predetermined sub-hourly period as input to their algorithms. The completed binary hourly file at the Data Center is kept locally. At the end of the day, a daily tar file consisting of the hourly data are created and staged for archive.
  • 1994-02-01T00:00:00 -RETENTION: NGS retains the data at the original at-sampling rate for 30 days. After 30 days, NGS decimates its online holdings to a 30-second sampling rate.
  • 1994-02-01T00:00:00 -ARCHIVE: Prior to the 30-day mark, the RINEX at-sampling rate data is copied to NCEI. Aftter 30 days, NCEI then stages, archives, and distributes the CORS data via the CLASS infrasturcture. For the special use case, the daily binary files from 4 days ago are archived by NCEI to CLASS.
Source Datasets
Lineage information for:repository
Processing Steps
  • 2015-04-22T00:00:00 -NOAA created the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) by merging NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), including the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), per the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Public Law 113-235. NCEI launched publicly on April 22, 2015.
Acquisition Information (collection)
Instrument
  • Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GPS
Platform
  • GPS > Global Positioning System
  • GLONASS > GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema
Last Modified: 2023-09-14
For questions about the information on this page, please email:ncei.info@noaa.gov