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Global Positioning System

K.L. Gagan, M.A. Geonigo, A. Malinay, R.G. Vilela

Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Santo Tomas,

Espaa, Manila, Philippines

Abstract:

The Global Positioning System (GPS) became fully functional in 1994, at first it

was mainly used by the military but now because of its advancement it became

accessible for everyone and has different purposes. One of the fields that it is very

useful is through the field of science where ecology, forestry, geography, geology,

surveying, limnology, and oceanography takes advantage of the GPS. In ecology it is

used for recording and saving the sampling sites of individual or group of organisms,

geologic feature, communities, etc. for this experiment the group used a Garmin

GPSmap76CSx receivers. Two groups will colaborate for the experiment, one group will

find a location and record the coordinates using the GPS, while the other group will try

to find the location with the help of the GPS. Our group was the one tasked to find the

location recorded by the other group. At the end of the experiment our group was able

to find the exact location that the other group recorded, its coordinates was N 14 36

30.1 E 120 590. Introduction:

GPS or Global Positioning System is a network of orbiting satellites is a device

used for calculating the exact position, speed and time at the vehicles location. Also the

GPS receives signals for navigating devices and can send precise and accurate details
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of their position. The GPS is also used by the scientists where it helped to provide dats

that has never been available before. Also they measure the movement of the artic ice

sheets, earth's tectonic plates and other activities using GPS (Doberstein, 2012).

Methods:

Each group collaborated with students in other groups. The first batch of students

were tasked to assign coordinates using the different locations inside UST. The second

batch were then assigned to navigate the coordinates using the Garmin GPSmap76CSx

receivers. Equipped with two AA batteries, one hand-held GPS receiver was provided to

the group with the time of departure and arrival to the laboratory recorded. The data

sheet with the locations and their corresponding coordinates was handed to the

instructors.

Discussion:

The Global Positioning System satellite transmits a unique signal and orbital

parameters that allow GPS devices to decode and compute the precise location of the

satellite. GPS receivers use this information and trilateration to calculate a user's exact

location. In our activity, the coordinates that was given to us to locate were 143630.1"

N ; 12059'23.0" E. The coordinates were inputted into the GPS and a map was shown

with a flag of the exact location. The GPS brought us to the exact location which was

the UST field, between two goal posts.

Conclusion:
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GPS is an effective tool for finding precise location but there are factors affecting

its efficiency like technological and environmental issues.

References

Ashby, N. (2003). Relativity in the global positioning sytem. Living Reviews in Relativity,
6(1). doi: 10.12942/lrr-2003-1. Retrieved from http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-
2003-1.