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GPS Technology
By Editor | November 6, 2006
GPS, or Global Positioning System, is the only practical satellite navigation system available today. There are more than twenty four GPS satellites orbiting the Earth and they all broadcast precise signals in radio waves that permit GPS receivers (GPSr) to mark the exact position of any object on the surface of the earth in terms of latitude, longitude, and altitude. These signals work in all weather and round-the-clock all over the world, that is why they are called Global.
The GPS has made life very easy in terms of navigating the earth, whether on land, sea, or air. Since the development of the GPS, it has become possible to recreate maps with more accuracy than ever before. As the GPS involves precise timings for pin pointing locations this comes in handy in technologies like telecommunication and seismic studies (involving earthquakes). Landscape topography and air space control is also better handled through GPS because it can assess the altitude and speed of air borne objects with a high degree of accuracy.
GPS was developed and implemented by the US Department of Defense and it was called NAVSTAR GPS of Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System. The first experimental GPS satellite was launched in 1978. At present, the 50th Space Wing manages the entire array of GPS satellites orbiting the planet. It must be noted that the running and maintenance of the GPS costs US$400 million every year. This includes the replacement of older satellites. However, this whole service is free for non-military use.
Most recent, in 2005, the first of a new generation of GPS satellites was added to the existing array. The new technology offers many advantages that improve the reliability and accuracy of the GPS data available for public use. The new signal is called L2C. The plan is to keep adding newer satellites to the existing array and all of them will increase L2C coverage of the planet. Eventually, there may be as many as four systems available for public use and, of course, there will always be military applications of GPS.
GPS signals are now accurate to within 2 meters due to the Wide Array Augmentation System (WAAS) that was implemented in 2000. However, special GPS receivers need to be compatible with WAAS to make use of this enhancement. Newer technologies like Differential GPS (DGPS) can make position accurate to within 1 centimeter.
Nowadays, GPS is widely used by people for navigation of cars, airplanes, and ships. Visiting a foreign country is made easy with handheld devices called Personal Navigation Devices (PND) that show a detailed map of the city with important landmarks along with your current position so that there is never any danger of getting lost. PND are also used by mountain climbers and hikers. It is quite common to find other devices like PDAs, cell phones, and car computers to be combined with GPS.
There are newer technologies and concepts in place and under development that will make navigating through the toughest locales on Earth very easy due to accurate positioning through GPS.
Topics: GPS |