For centuries, governments around the world have established and maintained geodetic benchmarks, crucial reference points that facilitate accurate map making and surveying. These hidden and underappreciated pieces of infrastructure are maintained in perpetuity in order to support world, national, and local coordinate systems. Your smart phone’s Global Positioning Systems (GPS) uses them. So, too, do foresters using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing technology for various purposes related to land and natural resource management.
When construction along Larpenteur Avenue uprooted existing geodetic survey benchmarks near the UMN-Twin Cities campus in St. Paul, longtime GIS instructor Andy Jenks asked the MN Department of Transportation (MNDOT) about replacing them. His idea was to install them closer to classrooms so that GIS and GPS students could more easily access them for measurement, ground control, and equipment calibration exercises.
Earlier this fall, MNDOT installed nine new markers at various elevations around Green Hall in coordination with UMN Facility Information Services, Landcare, and Jenks. The benchmarks appear to be flush with the surface of the ground, but are actually atop aluminum rods that are pounded as deep as 128 feet into the earth in order to maintain their geologic stability.
Worldwide, benchmarks within a local area are required to have unique names. Jenks named each new marker placed on campus after former and current GIS faculty, a fitting way to preserve the legacies of those who teach GIS, remote sensing, and map making.
Soon, official witness posts (pink metal signs, in our case) will be hung on nearby buildings to mark the benchmarks' locations, making them easier to spot. Next time you’re on the UMN campus in St. Paul, take a stroll to see how many geodetic benchmarks you can find. It’s a remarkable way to celebrate what generally goes unnoticed.
~ This article is part of the Fall 2024 Forest Scene newsletter (Issue 32). Access additional articles in the table of contents that follows the image description.
Image descriptions:
- Image 1: An installed geodetic benchmark close-up. This one is inscribed with the name "Burk" and the year "2024". The metal benchmark is attached to a long metal rod through its center hole. It is installed within a concrete tube filled with gravel. A hinged metal lid that will cover it is visible.
- Image 2: A light-skinned man with a gray moustache and receding hair that's cut very short. He's wearing a khaki button-up shirt.
- Image 3: A hand holds a geodetic marker in front of a city worker who's digging a hole. The geodetic marker is a palm-sized round metal piece with a hole in the middle. This one is inscribed with the name "Bolstad" and the year 2024.
- Image 4: A map of the nine new geodedic benchmarks installed on the UMN-Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. The benchmarks are named Ek, Bolstad, Bauer, Knight, Jenks, Heins, Edgar, Babcock, and Burk. Names of streets and UMN buildings are included on the map.
The Forest Scene newsletter is published biannually in the spring and fall, featuring stories, research briefs, and updates from the Department of Forest Resources.
Click the following links to read articles from the Fall 2024 edition of Forest Scene (Issue 32):
- Department Message from Kristen C. Nelson
- New Faculty
- New Research: "Rising carbon dioxide and nitrogen pollution may jointly threaten biodiversity"
- New Research: "Are winter weather trends impacting northern Minnesota logging businesses?"
- "Teamwork": Support from student assistants is critical to conducting our research. It also bolsters the next generation of leaders.
- News Bites:
- "Danielle Ignace selected as a leader for the first National Nature Assessment"
- "SAF 2024"
- "Inspiring campus with tree cookies"
- "Continuing collaborations at the Cloquet Forestry Center"
- "Forestry Club participates in pile burning 'learn and burn' at the Cloquet Forestry Center"
- "UFOR and Extension collaborate to plant urban-tolerant, climate-ready trees"
- Field Questions: "Reducing vulnerability to wind damage in forest management planning"
- Alumnus Spotlight: Sawyer Scherer
- Faculty Retirement: Charlie Blinn
- Endnote