Introduction to GPS: The Global Positioning System

After the launch of the Russian Sputnik in 1957, a researcher realized the satellite signal was Doppler shifted and understood that if the satellite orbit was known, a user's position could be determined based on the shift measurements. From this early beginning, the Global Positioning System (GPS) has been applied to more and more segments of our daily lives. GPS has been applied successfully to everything from the environment, farming, civil engineering, seismic surveying, airborne and maritime mapping, transit systems and vehicle navigation and has proven to be very cost effective and efficient. The author provides an introduction to and description of the Global Positioning System. Presented in easy to…