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Airport will be part of mapping project
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MONROE - Monroe Municipal Airport will become part of a new statewide geodetic mapping system.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is working to install 100 permanent Continuously Operating Reference Stations, or CORS, across the state.

Geodetic surveying, unlike plane surveying, takes into account the curvature of the earth's surface when determining the size of an area and the position of a specific fixed point.

The new system will allow satellites to use any three of the new CORS - a process called triangulation - to calculate maps.

A network of these permanent Global Positioning System sites can provide surveyors, Geographic Information Systems and Land Information Systems professionals, engineers and scientists with data to enable positioning accuracy within a few centimeters.

The City of Monroe Common Council approved an agreement Aug. 4 for the installation of the CORS station at the airport. The Airport Board reviewed and approved the agreement Aug. 31.

The agreement gives Monroe one license to use the system for free. Monroe will be responsible for providing power to the GPS receiver, power supply and high-speed Internet connection.

The Department of Transportation will construct the CORS station and supply all the materials.

According Ray A. Kumapayi, chief engineer of surveying and mapping section of the DOT, the CORS site at Monroe will be part of Zone 3. This area will encompass Monroe to Stetsonville and Phelps. Ten stations are proposed for this zone.

The "zones" are designated as areas for erecting new sites. All sites will work together when completed.

To date, 35 stations in Wisconsin are operational in both Zone 1 (eastern part of the state) and Zone 2 (Janesville to Rhinelander).