Using CORPSCON's Windows Version: coordinate systems & geoid models

Corpscon comes from the Army Corp of Engineers. The windows version is a little easier to use than the older DOS version. You can probably figure it out on your own but here are the steps to do what we need to do for our gravity surveys:

• Using either Excel or Surfer's worksheet export a file that has four columns (and NO COLUMN HEADINGS):

In Excel I generally just copy the columns I am interested in into a new spreadsheet; then click "save as" and select "TAB Delimited Formatted Text." Excel will probably insist on putting a ".txt" file extension on the file even though you want it to be ".dat"; just rename it in Windows Explorer. My Excel doesn't work properly if you choose space-delimited so stick with tab delimited. Also, CORPSCON is still "sort of" DOS oriented - it only recognizes 8-character filenames. In Surfer's worksheet, make the file either comma or space delimited and remember which format you chose.

• Fire up CORPSCON and click Input Format/State Plane NAD83. Then select:

• Click Output Format and select:

• Click Send Data and select Output File.

• Click Convert/User Defined Input File and click through the six fields.
  

• Corpscon then asks you for the input file (the one you saved with Excel of Surfer) - here's where you notice that CORPSCON only likes 8-character file names.
• And then it asks you to name the output file - put it in your directory.
• CORPSCON should (might) tell you it has successfully created a file. You now take the column of NGVD elevations (in meters) and put it into your spreadsheet in the appropriate place. Label the column in your spreadsheet so you don't get different elevations (HAE, GEOID96, NGVD29) mixed up.