Good news for explorers and miners with Australian data – location data can now be more accurate with the transition to Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) in DataShed4.
The Australian Government has updated their datum from GDA94 to GDA2020 – a significant update aligning Australia’s datum with the earth-fixed global satellite datum used in GPS. Since GDA94 was established in 1994, Australia has moved about 1.8m north-north-east.
Ian Hay, one of maxgeo’s GIS specialists, was involved in the technical aspect of the DataShed update to GDA2020.
“This update means that when a geologist records their location using GPS on their phone, their location will automatically be updated in the database so that their logging and drilling information will all be in stored with the most up to date coordinate system”, Ian said.
GDA2020 is a static datum, like GDA94, because it is fixed to the tectonic plate that Australia is on. Australia will continue drifting toward Indonesia at a rate of 7cm per year, so the difference between GDA2020 and earth-fixed datums such as ITRF will gradually increase. The Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (IGSM) has more information.
As well as GDA2020, the latest version of DataShed4 includes numerous bug fixes and maintenance updates including improved cascade filtering for downhole tables and faster loading time compared to previous versions.
DataShed v4.6.4.4 is now available. Our cloud clients will receive the update automatically in February/March 2021. For clients with on-premise DataShed5 or DataShed4, please email [email protected] to request the installer file.