Army Geospatial Center Fact Sheets

Survey Engineering and Mapping Technical Center of Expertise

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:25:00 GMT

The Survey Engineering and Mapping Center of Expertise was originally established in the mid 1990’s to provide the USACE with expert knowledge in the various areas of surveying and mapping. With the advancement of GNSS and related surveying tools, this Center provided the USACE with the necessary research and development, training, and guidance to fully implement this new technology leading to efficient and accurate survey data collection solutions. The Center’s ability to apply this to other advances in surveying and mapping activities has made it a very successful program and resource for USACE districts.

AGC Imagery Office

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:01:00 GMT

The AGC Imagery Office (AIO) is the U.S. Army's commercial imagery acquisition agent as defined in AR525-95. AIO serves several functions in its role as monitor, as defined in AR525-95, Army Geospatial Information and Services.

Regional Terrain Planner

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:50:00 GMT

The US Army Geospatial Center (AGC) has developed a tactical scale (1:24,000 - 1:200,000) Army planning dataset focusing on local-level mapping of networks, patterns and features. The Regional Terrain Planner (RTP) is designed to serve as an operational planning tool to support military mobility studies in corridors between Urban Tactical Planner (UTP) analysis areas from multispectral satellite imagery and other high fidelity raster and vector data. The dataset can be produced to operate at the Unclassified/CUI level by using the appropriate data sources for that level (such as imagery, maps, and available open source datasets).

Global Positioning System – Survey (GPS-S)

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:48:00 GMT

Global Positioning System - Survey is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) capability integrated with common engineer computing platform, that provides Engineer Teams with the capability to perform precision construction, topographic, and hydrographic surveys using signals from military and civilian Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The GPS-S system is pre-positioned to integrate Department of Defense (DoD) M-CODE and GPS 3.0 capabilities when these technologies become available.

Enterprise Geospatial Data Management

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:59:00 GMT

The Enterprise Geospatial Data Management (EGDM) application created by the U.S. Army Geospatial Center and hosted on the Joint Engineer Common Operating Picture (JECOP) web portal is a powerful data acquisition and production tool with an ever-expanding library of datasets that include various DoD generated GGDM 3.0 compliant datasets and worldwide coverage of Open Street Map. These data can be utilized for extraction or map product creation in both connected and disconnected environments using a user-friendly web interface

AISI – Line-of-Sight Survey Total Station

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:36:00 GMT

The Automated Integrated Survey Instrument (AISI) is a complete field survey instrument package used to determine distances and directions for field artillery weapon systems, establishing geodetic survey control and to perform construction and airfield surveys. It provides the surveyor with a single instrument (total station) to achieve all functions formally carried out with theodolites, tapes, and distance measuring devices. It consists of an Electronic Theodolite (ELT) with display/control panel; an EDM for accurately measuring distances; and a Data Recorder unit (DRU) for encoding, storing, retrieving, and processing surveying data and for interfacing with any microprocessor. AISI includes a Long RangeLong-Range Kit when required. This Long RangeLong-Range Kit increases the Electronic Distance Meter (EDM) range from two kilometers to seven kilometers to meet geodetic mission requirements.

Shaping and Enabling Space-Based ISR

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:16:00 GMT

The AGC Imagery System Branch in support of Army TENCAP is pivotal in delivering specialized expertise in space-based Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT). Our work encompasses various key areas, starting with mission and systems engineering. We provide comprehensive support in designing, analyzing, and optimizing systems to ensure they meet the Army's operational requirements. This expertise is crucial in ensuring that space-based intelligence systems are both effective and reliable, aligning seamlessly with mission objectives.

Water Resource Assessments and Appraisals (WRA/WAA)

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:44:40 GMT

Since 1995 the Army Geospatial Center’s Hydrologic Analysis Team has produced Water Resources Assessments (WRA) in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District's Water Resources Assessment Program, which in turn directly supports the U.S. Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Civic Assistance water development program.

Voyager ILS and WebVoyage

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:42:44 GMT

The Geospatial Information Library (GIL) within the US Army Geospatial Center (AGC) is part of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The GIL utilizes Ex Libris (USA) Inc. Voyager integrated library system (ILS) to catalog its library holdings. Voyager is an ILS with modules for cataloging, circulation, acquisitions, reports and others.

U-SMART - (USACE Survey Monument Archival and Retrieval Tool)

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:42:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) utilizes survey markers/monuments, known as Control Points, across the United States (US), to monitor and measure the condition of the land related to water levels and its effect on projects including those in the Corps Project Notebook (CPN). These control points provide geospatial positioning, elevation, and other important information that are used for consistency across planning, engineering, design, and operations and maintenance of a project and allow it to be accurately georeferenced to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). This activity is critical to maintaining an understanding of the relationship between the various geodetic, tidal, and water level datums.

Tidal Datums for Dredging

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:41:34 GMT

Tidal datums, or models of tide behavior across a specific body of water, are normally based on a time series of gauge measurements recorded at fixed structures along a water-way. Where fixed platformare not available, such as channel approaches to harbors or the middle of bays and estuaries, uncertainty exists for the exact tide from minute to minute and also the water piling up or going away due to wind effects on the water levels.

The Strategic Importance of the Army Geospatial Center’s LIDAR Collection Capability

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:40:48 GMT

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) is a remote sensing technology that utilizes laser pulses to measure distances and create detailed, high-resolution 3D maps of the Earth's surface. By emitting rapid laser pulses and measuring the time it takes for the light to bounce back, LIDAR generates precise spatial data that is invaluable for a variety of applications, particularly in military contexts. Unlike commercial satellites, which can provide useful imagery, LIDAR offers unparalleled depth perception, allowing for the identification of terrain features, infrastructure, and even vegetation in a three-dimensional context.

Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure and Environment 3.X

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:40:00 GMT

Geospatial data has historically not been standardized across the DoD Installation and Environment (I&E) and Civil Works (CW) enterprise and is therefore difficult and costly to use, share and integrate. To solve this problem, the US Army Geospatial Center (AGC) and the Defense Installations Spatial Data Infrastructure Group (DISDIG) has developed a geospatial data standard across the DoD I&E communities and USACE Civil Works by streamlining the Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE) from version 2.6 to 3.X. The development of the SDSFIE Logical Data Model (LDM) is a major milestone in the development of SDSFIE.

Remote Sensing & Fluorescence Lab ERDC-Alexandria, VA

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:39:28 GMT

The Remote Sensing and Fluorescence Labs at ERDC-Research Division are engaged in basic and applied research in fluorescence, reflectance, and thermal sensing for terrain and environmental understanding. Examples of research foci are: 1) the development and modeling of fluorophores as target materials for LiDAR 2) the collection and analysis of reflectance to support hyperspectral imaging, 3) thermal short- and longwave emissive spectroscopy and imaging, 4) distributed sensing and 5) understanding of vegetative fluorescence compounds.

Manual of Environmental Effects

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:38:22 GMT

The Army Geospatial Center (AGC) has produced an unclassified document that is designed to provide basic environmental effects and associated climate and terrain information on military operations for a given country or region.

National Inventory of Dams

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:38:00 GMT

The National Inventory of Dams (NID) is a congressionally authorized database that documents more than 91,000 dams across the U.S. and its territories. It is maintained and published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, the states, territories, and federal agencies.

M&S Terrain Generation - VBS/2

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:37:58 GMT

The U.S. Army Geospatial Center’s (AGC) Joint Experimentation, Test, and Simulation (JETS) Laboratory produces non-standard modeling and simulation (M&S) terrain products to support the Army geospatially and as it pertains to modeling and simulation terrain database applications.

M&S Terrain Generation

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:37:30 GMT

The Joint Experimentation, Test, and Simulation Lab (JETS Lab) of the U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC) generates quick turnaround niche Modeling & Simulation (M&S) terrain products to support training, experimentation, testing, research and analysis.

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) Data

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:35:00 GMT

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors provide high-resolution, 3-dimensional (3D) geospatial data. Using capabilities developed and refined under the Rapid Terrain Visualization Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (RTV ACTD), the AGC continues to perform LIDAR data collections, exploit LIDAR data for operational support, and research LIDAR technologies.

Integrated Evaluation Center (IEC)

Press Operations — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:34:52 GMT

To provide the AGC and other DoD organizations with automation, communications and simulation support infrastructure to enable both live and virtual experimentation, demonstrations and analysis.