GeneraldescriptionofwhatGPS
isandhowitworks.
GPS(GlobalPositioningSystem)istheonlysystemtodayabletoshowyouyour
exactpositionontheEarthanytime,inanyweather,anywhere.GPSsatellites,24
inall,orbitat11,000nauticalmilesabovetheEarth.Theyarecontinuously
monitoredbygroundstationslocatedworldwide.Thesatellitestransmitsignals
thatcanbedetectedbyanyonewithaGPSreceiver.Usingthereceiver,youcan
determineyourlocationwithgreatprecision.
Thesatellitesarepositionedsothatwecanreceivesignalsfromsixofthemnearly
100percentofthetimeatanypointonEarth.Youneedthatmanysignalstoget
thebestpositioninformation.Satellitesareequippedwithverypreciseclocksthat
keepaccuratetimetowithinthreenanoseconds-that's0.000000003,orthree
billionths,ofasecond.Thisprecisiontimingisimportantbecausethereceiver
mustdetermineexactlyhowlongittakesforsignalstotravelfromeachGPS
satellite.Thereceiverusesthisinformationtocalculateitsposition.
AlthoughGPSwasdesignedformilitaryuse,manythousandsofciviliansmake
useofit.Thesatellitesactuallybroadcasttwosignals,onethatisonlyformilitary
use,andonethatcanbeusedbybothmilitaryandcivilians.SinceGPSispassive
(youonlyneedtoreceivethesignal),therearenorestrictionsonwhocanusethe
signalavailabletocivilians.
GPStechnologycanbeusedinavarietyoffieldsbesidesprovidingnavigationfor
vehiclesonthesea,intheairandontheground.GPSapplicationsalsoinclude
keepingtrackofwhereafleetoftrucks,trains,shipsorplanesareandhowfast
theyaremoving;directingemergencyvehiclestothesceneofanaccident;
mappingwhereacity'sassetsarelocated;andprovidingprecisetimingfor
endeavorsthatrequirelarge-sca lecoordination.