Impacts of GPS on Environment |2020

1. Introduction:

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio navigation system, It’s the only
system available today to identify the exact position or location and speed of any object which
has GPS device attached to it. Initially GPS (NAVSTAR) was developed by US Air Force to
assist their military purpose. But later when people came to know about its applications, smart
brains took it seriously and improved it from year to year. In this contemporary world, GPS has
become very integral part in our daily lives. It is possible to track our each and every moment,
Form how we move from one place to another place to how we defend our borders. So,
everywhere GPS is being used and it has its own positive impacts. Today, each and every
electronic device we use from Smartphones, Smart bands to automobile like cars and Cruise
ships are integrated with tracking system. Mainly self-driving cars, Airplane’s and Rocket
launching companies mainly relay on Global Positioning System [1].

2. How GPS works?

Mainly GPS works on 3 components User equipment, Satellite and Ground Station.

User Equipment - User equipment’s like smartphones and any other hand-held devices or
automobiles will be integrated with GPS receivers which transmits the information to locate
the exact position through signals.

Figure No.: 1 Figure No.: 2

Satellite – satellites orbits around the earth’s equator by 55 degrees to ensure coverage of polar
regions and circles the earth twice a day. It transmits the signals to the receiver.

Ground Station – Ground stations are responsible for monitoring the GPS satellite and its
operations [2].

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3. Impacts of GPS on Environment:

3.1 Impact on wildlife:

GPS telemetry has been using extensively in animal tracking using a device called GPS
Collars. Most of these collars were typically designed with wildlife in mind they put in sensors
such as mortality sensors that will notify the researchers when the animals are sick and even
when it dead. So, it will help the wildlife rehabilitators and researchers to track and recover the
animals which are sick, injured and also helps in tracking its moment and understanding the
behavior of the species. Some of the new features that GPS collars are their communication
devices, the two primary ones are Radium communication and Argos communication. With
this the researcher or rehabilitators can remotely retrieve the data from collars.

Figure No.: 3

Also, with the GPS collars now we have a facility of using cameras along with GPS system
which will help to study the species food habitation along with its special location [3].

Figure No.: 4

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Impacts of GPS on Environment |2020

3.2 Use of GPS in Agriculture and Farming:

A good example for use of GPS in Agriculture is Precision Farming or Site-Specific Crop
Management (SSCM). It’s a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and
responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops.

Tractor guidance - Farmers cannot put their tractors on auto-pilot. If they plow their fields
with a recording GPS system the tractor can then be programmed to follow the same route –
for cultivating, fertilizing, pest control and harvesting. The programming of tractor routes has
the potential to save a lot of money.

Yield Monitoring - Estimates of yield variations across a property can be made using GPS. To
do this the property is divided into zones and the yield of each zone is estimated and plotted on
a map. The map can then be used to better understand the property and for decision-making in
regard to the next planting.

Crop Dusting or Spraying – Now it’s the era smart agriculture, it has revolutionized the way
of farming. The use of IOT devices which works on the GPS has increased the productivity of
farming. The farmers started using drones weighing more than 55 pounds to carry tanks of
fertilizers and pesticides in order to spray crops. Drones such as this are capable of spraying
crops with far more precision than a traditional tractor. This helps reduce costs and potential
pesticide exposure to workers who would have needed to spray those crops manually [4].

Figure No.: 5 Figure No.: 6

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Impacts of GPS on Environment |2020

3.3 Use of GPS in oil spilling tracking:

There have been many oil spills in recent years. These spill damage the ocean environment
and effects the living of marine species. Once, the oil gets spilled in the ocean it’s very difficult
to effectively recover it. These results in high residual amount of spilled oil and long-term
damage to the environment as well as marine and human life.

The iSPHERE is an expendable, low cost, bi-directional spherical drifting

buoy developed to meet the demanding needs of the offshore oil industry,
ocean freight industry and the oceanographic scientific community. The
buoy was designed specifically to track and monitor oil spill incidences.
The iSPHERE drifter also provides the user with essentially real-time sea
Surface temperature data and GPS positional data [5].
Figure No.: 7

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Impacts of GPS on Environment |2020

4. Conclusion:

GPS is very important tool fot tracking and navigation purpose. Its popularity has increased
drastically and covered almost all domines. This technology improves the accuracy of
environmental monitoring by providing accurate spatial coordinates that can be correlated with
environmwntal measurments. Low cost differential GPS equipment will provide spatial
accuracy in the +/- 10 meter range. However the use of differential GPS techniques is still
recommended for most environmental applications.

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6. References:

1. https://www.equipcoservices.com/support/tutorials/introduction-to-global-
positioning-systems
2.https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_unit
s/techops/navservices/gnss/gps/howitworks/
3. https://youtu.be/yDfSZblC0Vs
4. https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/exploring-agricultural-drones-
the-future-of-farming-is-precision-agriculture-mapping-and
spraying/articleshow/731
5. https://www.metocean.com/product/isphere

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