Global Positioning System

by Mary E. Reece Submitted to Lawrence J. Clark, Professor of Technical Writing New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology April 2000

Abstract
This report explains what the Global Positioning System (GPS) is and how it is changing the world. The many applications of this system will be explained while concentrating on its impact on mining. New applications are currently being discovered and implemented while future applications may be limitless.

Table of Contents
Cover Page Executive Summary Introduction Basic Concepts
What is GPS? Segments

History
History of Navigation - includes descriptions and shortcomingss of other navigational systems History of GPS

How does it work?

Mathematical Basis Services (PPS vs. SPS) Augmentations

Applications
Application categories Open-pit Mining

Conclusion GPS Update (May 2000) Glossary

Works Cited

Executive Summary
There are many current uses for the Global Positioning System (GPS) and many more that have not yet been thought of or implemented . This report will demonstrate how much GPS has improved navigation and explain some of its lesser known applications. A comparison to other navigational systems and a section on how GPS works are included. The research for this report was concentrated in the field of open-pit mining and so this application of GPS will be explained in greater detail than the other areas of applicability. Also explained is how society is being affected by these applications and what future applications may be in store.

Introduction
This report is about the Global Positioning System (GPS) and its many applications. The history of navigation and how GPS works are important for understanding this report and so each has its own section within the report. How it compares to other navigational systems and its uses outside of navigation will be discussed as well. The goal of this report is to explain how GPS technology is affecting society. This report is intended for anyone who: - uses GPS in their job, - uses GPS for leisure activities, - is curious about the applications, or - is curious about how it works, Actually, this report is for everyone since GPS affects us all whether we directly use it or not. Ultimately, this report conveys that GPS is not just a navigational system. A good analogy is the clock which was originally used as a navigational tool. Since stars look different at different times, people who used celestial navigation needed to know what time of night it was. The market forecasters shortly after the invention of the clock probably could not have imagined the impact that timekeeping would have on the world or the other products and services that this technology would someday make possible. The same situation can be found now with GPS. In fact, it was first intended for military use but is now meeting numerous civilian needs as well. We can only guess at some of the eventual uses that this relatively new technology will bring about.

What is GPS?
GPS is a satellite-based navigation system originally developed for military purposes and is maintained and controlled by the United States Department of Defense. GPS permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine their threedimensional position, velocity, and time. It can be used by anyone with a receiver anywhere on the planet, at any time of day or night, in any type of weather. This is an amazing capability! There are two GPS systems: NAVSTAR - United State's system, and GLONASS the Russian version. The NAVSTAR system is often referred to as the GPS (at least in the U.S.) since it was generally available first. Many GPS receivers can use data from both NAVSTAR and GLONASS; this report focuses on the NAVSTAR system.

Segments
GPS uses radio transmissions. The satellites transmit timing information and satellite location information. The system can be separated into three parts: Space Segment Control Segment User Segment This page includes several figures to help describe the system. The following figure illustrates how the three segments fit together (Figure 1)

Figure 1 - GPS Segments

Space Segment
The space segment consists of the satellites themselves. According to the United States Naval Observatory, there are currently 27 operational GPS satellites about 11,000 miles up in space. This constellation (see Figure 2 below) provides between five and eight GPS satellites visible from any point on the earth. The next scheduled launch is May 10, 2000.

Figure 2 - The Space Segment It takes each satellite about twelve hours to orbit the earth. There are six orbital planes with at least four satellites in each plane.

Control Segment
The control segment is a group of ground stations that monitor and operate the GPS satellites. There are monitoring stations spaced around the globe and one Master Control Station located in Colorado Springs, Colorado (see Figure 3 below). Each station sends information to the Control Station which then updates and corrects the navigational message of the satellites. There are actually five major monitoring systems, the figure below does not include the Hawaiian station.

Figure 3 - The Control Segment

User Segment
The user requires a GPS receiver in order to receive the transmissions from the satellites. The GPS receiver calculates the location based on signals from the satellites. The user does not transmit anything to the satellites and therefore the satellites don't know the user is there. The only data the satellites receive is from the Master Control Station in Colorado. The users consist of both the military and civilians.

History of Navigation
GPS is primarily a navigational system, so a background on navigation will give insight as to how extraordinary the Global Positioning System is. People first navigated only by means of landmarks - mountains, trees, or leaving trails of stones. This would only work within a local area and the environment was subject to change due to environmental factors such as natural disasters. For traveling across the ocean a process called dead reckoning, which used a magnetic compass and required the calculation of how fast the ship was going, was applied. The measurement tools were crude and inaccurate. It was also a very complicated process. When traveling over the ocean, people began using the stars as guidelines. The stars appear different from different locations on Earth so analyzing the stars gave sailers the basic direction to follow. Celestial navigation was our primary means of navigation for hundreds of years. It was a time-consuming and complicated task of measuring the angles between stars - a process of triangulation. The degree of precision was limited. The sextant was developed during this time but since it only measured latitude, a timepiece was also invented so that the longitude could also be calculated. This type of navigation only worked at night and in clear weather which was a great disadvantage. It was not until the 20th century that ground-based radio navigation systems were introduced. Some are still in use today. GPS is a satellite radio navigation system, but the first systems were ground-based. They work in the same way as does GPS: users (receivers) calculate how far away they are from a transmitting tower whose location is known. When several towers are used, the location can be pinpointed. This method of navigation was a great improvement, yet it had its own difficulties. An example of such a system is LORAN. Each tower had a range of about 500 miles and had accuracy good to about 250 meters. LORAN was not a global system and could not be used over the ocean. Because ground based systems send signals over the surface of the earth, only two-dimenstional location can be determined. The altitude cannot be calculated so this system could not be applied to aviation. The accuracy of such systems could be affected by geography as well. The frequency of the signal affected accuracy; a higher frequency would allow for greater accuracy, but the user would need to remain within the line of sight. The first global navigation system was called OMEGA. It was a ground-based system but has been terminated as of 1997. Satellite navigation systems can provide high frequency signals allowing for high accuracy, as well as global access because the satellites are so high up that remaining within the line of sight of the satellites is easy.

History of GPS
Prior to the development of the GPS system, the first satellite system was called Transit and was operational begining in 1964. Transit had no timing devices aboard the satellites and the time it took a receiver to calculate its position was about 15 minutes. Yet, much was learned from this system. GPS is a great improvement over the Transit system. The original use of GPS was as a military positioning, navigation, and weapons aiming system to replace not only Transit, but other navigation sytems as well. It has higher accuracy and stable atomic clocks on board to achieve precise time transfer. The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978 and the first products for civilian consumers appeared in the mid 1980's. It was in 1984 that President Reagan announced that a portion of the capabilities of GPS would be made availabe to the civil community. The system is still being improved and new, better satellites are still being launched to replace older ones.

How does GPS work?

Mathematical Basis

Each of the GPS satellites transmits radio signals. GPS receivers pick up these signals and measure the distance to a satellite by multiplying the speed of the signal by the time it takes the signal to get there. The speed of the signal is the speed of light and the time is encoded within the signal. The satellites also send information on their exact location. In order to find longitude, latitude, and altitude, four satellites are needed. If a measurment is taken using just one satellite, then all that is known is that the receiver is on the surface of a sphere with radius equal to the distance to the satellite. If two satellites are used, then the receiver must be on the surface of both spheres which is the intersection of the two spheres or the perimeter of a circle. If a third satellite is used, then the location of the user is narrowed down to the two points where the three spheres intersect. Three measurements are enough for land receivers since the lower of the two points would be selected. But when in the air or space, four satellites are needed: the intersection of all four spheres will be the receiver's location. When more than four satellites are used, greater accuracy can be achieved.

Services
There are two types of GPS services. Precise Positioning Service (P-code) is more accurate and reserved for the U.S. military and select government agency users. The other service is the Standard Positioning Service which is freely available to all users. The SPS code (C/A code) has errors purposefully encoded into it for U.S. national security reasons and is used for non-military applications. One source of error is Selective Availability (SA) and is implenented into the signal in order to keep non U.S. military users from attaining high accuracy. The errors in the signal are constantly changing. SA affects signals concerning the satellite's clock and thereby gives false information on how far the satellite is from the user which makes the receiver give less accurate values. The following table compares PPS and SPS:
Accuracy in: horizontal plane vertical plane time transfer PPS 22 meters 27.7 meters 200 nanoseconds SPS 100 meters 156 meters 340 nanoseconds

Augmentations
We have learned how to improve the accuracy that can be attained using the freely available SPS signals. A technique called differential GPS allows for greater accuracy of the civilian code by removing the error. This requires two receivers with one stationary knowing its exact location and the other probably roaming about. Both receivers calculate their positions and the stationary receiver takes the difference of the calculated position with that of its known position to calculate what the signal error is. Since the satellites are so far away, it can be assumed that both receivers are acquiring the same errors. Once the error is found the receivers can communicate with each other to find the location of the moving receiver. Differential position accuracies of 1-10 meters are possible with DGPS.

Applications

The applications of the Global Positioning System fall into five categories: location, navigation, timing, mapping, and tracking. Each category contains uses for the military, industry, transportation, recreation and science.

Location
This category is for position determination and is the most obvious use of the Global Positioning System. GPS is the first system that can give accurate and precise measurements anytime, anywhere and under any weather conditions. Some examples of applications within this category are: 1. Measuring the movement of volcanoes and glaciers. 2. Measuring the growth of mountains. 3. Measuring the location of icebergs - this is very valuable to ship captains helping them to avoid possible disasters. 4. Storing the location of where you were - most GPS receivers on the market will allow you to record a certain location. This allows you to find it again with minimal effort and would prove useful in a hard to navigate place such as a dense forest.

Navigation
Navigation is the process of getting from one location to another. This was the what the Global Positioning System was designed for. The GPS system allows us to navigate on water, air, or land. It allows planes to land in the middle of mountains and helps medical evacuation helicopters save precious time by taking the best route.

Timing
GPS brings precise timing to the us all. Each satellite is equipped with an extremely precise atomic clock. This is why we can all synchronize our watches so well and make sure international events are actually happening at the same time.

Mapping
This is used for creating maps by recording a series of locations. The best example is surveying where the DGPS technique is applied but with a twist. Instead of making error corrections in real time, both the stationary and moving receivers calculate their positions using the satellite signals. When the roving receiver is

through making measurements, it then takes them back to the ground station which has already calculated the errors for each moment in time. At this time, the accurate measurements are obtained.

Tracking
The applications in this category are ways of monitoring people and things such as packages. This has been used along with wireless communications to keep track of some criminals. The suspect agrees to keep a GPS receiver and transmitting device with him at all times. If he goes where he's not allowed to, the authorities will be notified. This can also be used to track animals.

Many applications use a combination of the above categories. The following is a list of some additional areas where the global positioning service is being applied: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. precision farming open-pit mining oil exploration airport and harbor approaches animal migration and population studies vehicle tracking construction - tunnels, golf courses, roads, etc. emergency services - the closest ambulance or fire truck is sent to an emergency, thereby saving time. 9. atmospheric studies - ozone layer, air quality, etc. 10. archaeological explorations 11. recreational activities - camping, boating, etc. 12. astronomical telescope pointing 13. networking - speed is increased, the Internet is highly synchronized because of GPS. 14. aiding the blind

Open-pit Mining
This is an area where very high precision is needed, regular DGPS techniques are not accurate enough. DGPS improves the accuracy from hundreds of meters down to less than 10 meters, but a technique called Real Time Kinematic (GPS) can increase the accuracy to within several centimeters. This RTK technique involves not only receiving signals from satellites but also receives correction information from nearby reference points.

RTK GPS is used in many other areas other than mining, but why does open-pit mining require such high accuracy? It can be used for measuring how steep a road should be, saving construction time. It can also be used for high accuracy with drills and shovels. The main reason the high accuracy is needed is used for ore control to make sure the different levels of ore containing dirt go to the right places. Not all mines have the equipment to use RTK GPS yet, but it may become necessary as the minerals become less abundant and better techniques must be applied.

Conclusion
The technology of the Global Positioning System is allowing for huge changes in society. The applications using GPS are constantly growing. The cost of the receivers is dropping while at the same time the accuracy of the system is improving. This affects everyone with things such as faster Internet speed and safer plane landings. Even though the system was originally developed for military purposes, civil sales now exceed military sales (See Figure 1 below).

GPS Update
On May 1, 2000 President Clinton announced that the government will no longer scramble signals from the GPS satellites. This means that civilians will be able to enjoy the high accuracy that the military has had for years. The DGPS techniques and the equipment needed to use them will no longer be necessary to get the same effects on accuracy. The affects on society will be: more reliable and accurate measurements less costly to corporations - since the error removing equipment will no longer be needed more affordable and accessible to consumers greater incentive for the development of new uses

The accuracy should increase ten-fold, from 100 meter to 10 meter accuracy. The $8 billion dollar a year GPS industry should also see a much larger than expected increase in sales.

Glossary and Acronyms

C/A code -The standard (Course/Acquisition) GPS code. A sequence of 1023 pseudo-random, binary, biphase modulations on the GPS carrier at a chip rate of 1.023 MHz. Also known as the "civilian code." Control segment - A world-wide network of GPS monitor and control stations that ensure the accuracy of satellite positions and their clocks. Differential positioning - Accurate measurement of the relative positions of two receivers tracking the same GPS signals. DGPS - Differential GPS Ephemeris - The predictions of current satellite position that are transmitted to the user in the data message. A table given for successive days the positions of heavenly bodies. GLONASS - GLObal NAvigation Satellite System - Russian GPS - Global Positioning System Latitude - the location on the Earth measuring how far north or south of the equator one is. Longitude - the location on the Earth measured east or west LORAN - LOng RAnge Navigation Nautical mile - length measurement used in navigation and is 1/60 of 1 degree of the equator. One nautical mile is 6,080.2 feet whereas one mile is 5,280 feet. NAVSTAR GPS - the Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging GPS P-code - The Precise code. A very long sequence of pseudo random binary biphase modulations on the GPS carrier at a chip rate of 10.23 MHz which repeats about every 267 days. Each one week segment of this code is unique to one GPS satellite and is reset each week. Precise Positioning Service (PPS) - The most accurate dynamic positioning possible with standard GPS, based on the dual frequency P-code and no SA.

Pseudolite - A ground-based differential GPS receiver which transmits a signal like that of an actual GPS satellite, and can be used for ranging. RTK - Real Time Kinematic Satellite constellation - The arrangement in space of a set of satellites. Selective Availability (SA) - A policy adopted by the Department of Defense to introduce some intentional clock noise into the GPS satellite signals thereby degrading their accuracy for civilian users. Space segment - The part of the whole GPS system that is in space, i.e. the satellites. Standard Positioning Service (SPS) - The normal civilian positioning accuracy obtained by using the single frequency C/A code. User segment - The part of the whole GPS system that includes the receivers of GPS signals.

Works Cited
Kaplan, E. (1996). Understanding GPS - Principles and Applications. Boston: Artech House. U.S. Naval Observatory (2000). Current GPS Constellation. http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/gpscurr.html Trimble Navigation Limited (1998). Putting GPS to Work. http://www.trimble.com/gps/puttinggps/gpsfram1.htm The Aerospace Corporation (1999). GPS Elements. http://www.aero.org/publications/GPSPRIMER/GPSElements.html Dommety, G. and Jain, R. (1996). Potential Networking Applications of GPS Technical report TR-24. http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~jain/papers/gps.htm Dana, P. (1999) Global Positioning System Overview. http://www.colorado.Edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html Critical Technologies Institute (1995). A Policy Direction for the Global Positioning System: Balancing National Security and Commercial Interests.

http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB1501/RB1501.html Holland, S. (2000, May 1). GPS Becomes 10X More Accurate. Reuters Limited. http://live.altavista.com/scripts/editorial.dll?efi=980&ern=y&ei=1751558