introduction to the global positioning system

1. Introduction to the Global
Positioning System (GPS)

2. Introduction to the Global Positioning System
(GPS)
Geodesy & GPS for Dummies
Session III:
National Science Teachers Association
2007 Annual Conference
St. Louis, MO
March 31, 2007
Casey Brennan

3. Learning Outcomes
• Participants will be able to describe the
basics of GPS.
• Participants will be able to describe the
method GPS uses to calculate your position.
• Participants will be able to list at least three
ways that GPS is important to your daily life.

4. Overview
• Part 1: A brief history of positioning
• Part 2: GPS 101
• Part 3: The amazing new world of precise
positioning

5. Where are we?
• What is
positioning
and what is
surveying?
• Positioning
in the USA
(zero
meridian)

6. The Importance of Time
• Time has been the
limiting factor for a lot
of science, including
the science of
positioning
• Ships and clocks (John
Harrison and the 18th
Century)
• Better accuracy
requires better clocks
John Harrison 1693-1776

7. The Technological Revolution
• Satellites
• Atomic clocks
• Microchips and calculators
• Radio Beacons and other
transitions from astro
methods to modern methods.
Ground based systems

8. Very Long Baseline Interferometry
• The precursor to GPS
• Quasars and dishes

9. The Launch of GPS
• DOD sponsored project
puts satellites into orbit
• First Sat launched in
1978
• 24 Sats by mid 1990s
• 28 Currently in orbit, with
more coming
• A fundamental change in
how positioning is done
• What GPS has changed?

10. The GPS Receiver
• Who has a GPS Receiver?
• What the receiver does
• What the receiver does NOT

11. Basic Trilateration
• D=RxT
• Rate is Speed of light
• Time is the key!
Technology made it
possible
• One you have
distance, its “easy”

12. GPS positioning simplified to two dimensions
x
y

17. How a GPS receiver works
• Find the satellites
• Know where the
satellites are
• Figure out D=RxT
• Trilaterate
• Repeat, repeat, repeat

18. The limitations of GPS
• Must be able to “see” the satellites
• Requires power
• Multiple sources of error

19. Sources of Error in GPS
• Multipathing
• Atmospheric Delays
• PDOP
• Clocks
• Orbits
• Receiver electronics
• Relativity
• Geoid models and other really techie stuff

20. x
PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision) or
“Why the distribution of GPS satellites in the sky affects how well I know where I am”
(Simplified to a 2-dimensional model)

21. PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision) or
“Why the distribution of GPS satellites in the sky affects how well I know where I am”
(Simplified to a 2-dimensional model)
x

22. PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision) or
“Why the distribution of GPS satellites in the sky affects how well I know where I am”
(Simplified to a 2-dimensional model)
x
Blue/Yellow have “good geometry” so the (green) error box around “x” is small (PDOP is small)
Red/Yellow have “bad geometry” so the (orange) error box around “x” is large (PDOP is large)

23. Just how accurate can we get?
• Consumer Grade
GPS
• Survey Grade
GPS
• Use of two
receivers instead
of just one
(CORS)

24. Some amazing things to do with GPS
• Earth Tides
• Measuring
subsidence
• Track the moving
earth
• Post Glacial
Rebound
• Geocaching
• Emergency
Rescue

25. Some amazing things to do with GPS

26. Conclusion and discussion
• GPS completely changed positioning forever
• GPS will continue to improve