The Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the one of the principal 21st century technological innovations. The GPS system uses other four satellites in recording and transmitting information about time and location. The GPS has manifested an ever-expanding role in helping governments, the military, and companies around the earth. This suggests that the GPS system serves commercial, civil, health, and other related purposes. In as much as the US government owns the GPS system, it is accessible to any individual who owns a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver integrates in a wide range of devices such as computers, mobile phones, and military devices. The GPS’s accurate recording of time and places is beneficial in enhancing the efficiency of core human involvements.

GPS is highly instrumental in the sports world. Sports require significant objectivity and accuracy in evaluating given competitions. In this perspective, it becomes difficult to evaluate sports that involve competing on long distances. For instance, hiking is a challenging sport that requires accurate recordings of height and time. The GPS technology has considerably propped the hiking sport. The Garmin Company specializes in manufacturing a range of GPS-integrated products such as watches and smartphones. Sports such as motor racing entail the complexities of recording distances. In this sense, GPS helps evaluate the instantaneous movements of automobiles.

The GPS is a surveying tool that is instrumental in building maps, models, and plans. A metrically accurate survey is essential for geographical analysis because it helps review preconceived ideas about the outlook of the world. For instance, the GPS helps archaeologists in recording and understanding data about sites and the evolution of the world. The GPS locates where a point occurs in a site in terms of three dimensions. The GPS system helps archaeologists determine the relativity of points in a map. Geographers attest to the fact that the Earth is an intricate and complex object. Geodesists who used simple tools in the past faced the difficulties of defining the numerous ellipsoids for mapping projections (McColl, 2005). This necessitates geodesists to project the Earth’s curved surface in a flat plane. GPS satellites help achieve this ability through their accurate recording of time and place.

The GPS system has greatly contributed towards enhancing the efficiency of the transport industry. Tourists travelling in remote parts of host countries usually use the GPS system in locating areas and sites of preferences. This is beneficial for security and convenience purposes. The GPS has helped the traffic officers in managing travel speeds. In a computerized GPS system, the officers collect data on delays, positions of vehicles, and hindrances (Bonnel, 2009). It helpS in studying the roadway features that are essential for establishing design projects.

The GPS’s accurate recording of time and places is beneficial in enhancing the efficiency of core human involvements. GPS is significant in recording time and locations in sports’ competition. This is, especially, relevant for sports that involve moving over long distances. For instance, the GPS helps record covered distances in motor racing. This is because motor racing involves the complexities of overlapping distances and fast speed of automobiles. The GPS is a surveying tool that helps in construction of maps and location of sites by archeologists. Geodesists use accurate projections of distances in locating the relation between locations. The GPS tool helps enhance the efficiency of the transport system. Tourists help locate preferred sites by using the GPS-integrated handheld gadgets. Traffic officers also use the GPS tool in managing traffic.

References

Bonnel, P. (2009). Transport survey methods: keeping up with a changing world. Bingley, UK: Emerald publishing.

McColl, R. W. (2005). Encyclopedia of world geography. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.