Scientists use satellites to measure height of Washington Monument

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Monument is a bit taller than previously thought.

A team of government geodesists Wednesday used satellites to take the monument's most accurate measure ever. Their preliminary result was 555 feet, 5.9 inches. Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth.

Previously, the height of the monument has been reported as 555 feet, 5.5 inches. It was last measured 65 years ago by government surveyers.

Scaffolding erected for a renovation of the monument gave the team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration access to the top of the giant stone pillar.

The team from NOAA'S National Geodetic Survey took several measurements during their visit to the apex and will report final, detailed figures in about a week, NOAA officials said.

"Engineers will also use this information to monitor the monument's stability, measuring any shifting, settling, or other movement of the structure," NOAA administrator D. James Baker said in a statement. He added that the same methods used in the project can be used for navigation and transportation and communications systems.

The geodesists used state-of-the-art Global Positioning System receivers and other specialized gear to take hundreds of measurements at the top of the monument and at several other nearby Washington landmarks.

The last official geodetic measurements from the top of the Washington Monument were made in 1934 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the National Geodetic Survey's predecessor agency. At that time, manual observations were made with instruments such as theodolites, spirit levels and leveling rods.

Such precise measurements are part of the Geodetic's Survey's National Spatial Reference System, which is the foundation for all types of surveys and allows government, industry and researchers to measure the position of objects in three-dimensional space.

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