Civilian

Location

The first and most obvious application of any Location Based Service such as GPS is the simple determination of a “position” or location. GPS was the first positioning system to offer highly precise location data for any point on the planet, in any weather. Knowing the precise location of something, or someone, is especially critical when the consequences of inaccurate data are measured in human terms.

Navigation

GPS helps you determine exactly where you are, but sometimes it is more necessary to know how to get somewhere else. Recall that GPS was originally designed to provide navigation information for ships and planes. So it’s no surprise that while this technology is appropriate for navigating on water, it’s also very useful in the air and on the land.

Tracking

GPS used in conjunction with communication links and computers can provide the backbone for systems tailored to applications in agriculture, mass transit, urban delivery, public safety, and vessel and vehicle tracking. Therefore , more and more police, ambulance, and fire departments are adopting systems like GPS-based AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) Manager to pinpoint both the location of the emergency and the location of the nearest response vehicle on a computer map. With this kind of clear visual picture of the situation, dispatchers can react immediately and effectively.

Mapping

Mapping the planet has never been an easy task, but GPS today is being used to survey and map it precisely, saving time and money in this most stringent of all applications. GPS can help generate maps and models of everything in the world , mountains, sea, rivers, cities and help manage endangered animals,archaeological treasures, precious minerals and all sorts of resources , as well as accurately managing the effect of damage and disasters.

For example peace brokers used GPS generated maps to determine the partitions of Bosnia under the Dayton Peace Accord, and GPS was used to map Cambodia accurately for the UN stabilisation force introduced after the civil war ended in 1993. In fact large tracks of Cambodia had never been mapped at all, due to inhospitable terrain and low population density. GPS solved this in weeks, whereas it would have taken months prior to the introduction of GPS.

Timing

GPS can also be used to determine precise time, time intervals, and frequency. There are three fundamental ways we use time:

  • As a universal marker,
  • As a way to synchronize
  • To provide an accurate, unambiguous sense of duration.

As discussed before, GPS satellites carry highly accurate atomic clocks. And in order for the system to work, GPS receivers here on the ground synchronize themselves to these clocks. That means that every GPS receiver is, in essence, an atomic accuracy clock. Astronomers, power companies, computer networks, communications systems, banks, and radio and television stations can benefit from this precise timing.

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