The US Coast Guard said that the five differential global positioning system (DGPS) sites operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are being decommissioned. However, the forty DGPS sites remotely monitored by the Coast Guard remain in operation.
Within the last year, the nationwide DGPS system has undergone a substantial reduction in the number of operational sites. In 2016, the number of sites was reduced from 84 to 45. The remaining DGPS sites are concentrated in coastal areas and along the Western Rivers.
As the DGPS architecture and equipment aged, its maintenance and operating costs have become a burden for USACE operating budgets. With increased competition from private DGPS providers, high accuracy Real-Time Kinematic systems, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wide Area Augmentation System, USACE has come to the decision that its inventory of DGPS sites are no longer worthwhile.
USACE began a phased shutdown of its five remaining DGPS sites May 31, 2017 when the Louisville, Kentucky site permanently shutdown. On June 30, 2017 three more sites will be permanently shut down; St. Paul, Minnesota, Miller’s Ferry, Alabama, and Rock Island, Illinois. The final USACE owned DGPS site, Reedy Point, Delaware, will be permanently shut down July 31, 2017. The 39 USCG owned and operated DGPS sites will continue to transmit.
Click here to view more details about the current status of DGPS, its evolution and DGPS without USACE sites
