What Is Gps And How Does It Work?

By Alistair Summers

GPS stands for 'Global Positioning System'. It is a global location system, owned and run by the US government which provides accurate location and time information anywhere in the world as long as you are within sight of 4 of the 24-32 satellites in geostationary orbit around the earth. This number of satellites allows there to be almost constant coverage of the entire planet at any one time. The system is made up of; the satellites, many ground based receiver stations, antennas and monitoring stations; as well as the millions of military and civilian based receivers found in everything from earthquake monitoring systems to your mobile phone.

Originally the system was designed as a way to track and monitor military operations around the world. The system allows soldiers to track everything from tank locations on a distant battle field to the precise location of troops deep behind enemy lines. The system leaves behind the use of maps and compasses for soldiers in unfamiliar places and allows them an advantage in tactical situations. Not only this, GPS can be used to track enemy locations and to better plan an attack or a defence.

There are also hundreds of civilian applications for GPS. Imagine you are lost in a strange city and need to find your nearest train station. With a GPS system in your phone your signal is bounced up into a satellite miles up in the atmosphere, sent to a monitoring station then bounced back to you again and displays your exact location for you on screen. Satellite Navigation systems use this so it is a very handy tool for taxi drivers and mike messengers as well as courier companies for tracking your parcels. A taxi in Belfast can easily find its way around quickly saving you money on Belfast taxi fares.

GPS is particularly handy for people who call emergency services and don't know where they are. Using your signal, they can locate you using GPS to within a couple of metres. Another handy application is in car security. It is possible to buy a car with a GPS tracker in it that in conjunction with your security system can alert you when you car is not where you left it and can direct the police to its exact location, thwarting your unsuspecting thieves.GPS is up there with the internet in the revolutionary technology leagues. The military applications alone will have saved countless soldiers and can also be used in topography, surveying and navigation.

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