Positional Accuracy Improvement Program

The aim of the Positional Accuracy Improvement program (PAIP) is to provide the Cayman Islands with a modern, accurate GPS based control infrastructure to facilitate efficient 3d mapping of all our islands. It is hoped that the benefits will be appreciated by all sections of the diverse Cayman survey and geospatial community including those professionals working with Cadastral, Aerial, Hydrographic, LiDAR, Utilities, Environmental , Stake out and Topographic data.

As part of the ongoing PAIP, Cayman Islands Lands and Survey is introducing some changes to the national geodetic infrastructure. For more information on why we are making these changes, visit Why Change the Datum and Grid?

Ultimately a single new Geodetic Datum (Cayman Islands Geodetic Datum 2011 - CIGD11) and a single new National Grid (Cayman Islands National Grid 2011 - CING11) covering all three islands will be adopted.

The migration to this new coordinate system involves:

  • changing geodetic (latitude, longitude, height) reference systems;
  • changing local plan (easting, northing) reference systems;
  • migrating existing mapping to the new grid
  • updating survey control stations.

Phased Introduction

Form Phased Changes Diagram

RTK Workflows By Phase
(XLS, 28 Kb)

The introduction of the new national easting northing grid (CING11) will result in far reaching changes for many Government and private sector stakeholders. For reasons of efficiency CING11 is intended to be introduced after the CORS infrastructure is complete, i.e. all four CORS (GCEA, GCFS, CBMD, LCSB) are in their final positions, hopefully during 2012. This should also ensure a smooth transition and allow for testing and consultation.

The Geoid Models already produced offer distinct efficiencies for GPS users interested in elevation. These efficiencies are considered significant enough to necessitate the Geoid Model introduction (Phase I) separately and in advance of the new grid.

Phase I (July 2010) - Completed:

Phase I of the migration process deals with the changes necessary to introduce use of the new geodetic datum (CIGD11) in Grand Cayman and the new geoid model for Grand Cayman (GCGM0811).

Phase II (Nov 2011) - Completed:

The CORS on Grand Cayman (Grand Cayman George Town - GCGT) will be replaced with a new CORS (Grand Cayman Elgin Avenue - GCEA) on the roof of the new Government Administration Building in Elgin Avenue.

Phase III (Dec 2012) - Completed:

The CORS on Cayman Brac (Cayman Brac Stake Bay - CBSB) will be replaced with a new GLONASS enabled CORS (Cayman Brac Major Donald - CBMD) situated in Major Donald Drive at the same location as the Seismic Monitoring Station.

Phase IV (Jan 2013) - Completed:

A new CORS is to be installed on Little Cayman (Little Cayman Spot Bay - LCSB).

Phase V (Jan 2013) - Completed:

The new geodetic datum, CIGD11, and the new geoid models, CBGM0811 (Cayman Brac) and LCGM0811 (Little Cayman), will be introduced in the Sister Islands.

How the change will be introduced:

The Lands & Survey Department will publish the CIGD11 position of CBMD and LCSB in early 2013. Details of the IP address and port number required to receive the correction signal will be issued to subscribers at the same time. 

CORS users will find end user instructions and all file downloads needed to update their office software and field equipment setup on the Users Support Page.

Additional Future Phases:

  • The new projection and national grid (CING11) will be introduced.