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How GPS Works: Kristine M. Larson Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado
How GPS Works: Kristine M. Larson Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado
Kristine M. Larson
Professor of Aerospace
Engineering Sciences
University of Colorado
Outline
• What is GPS
• How GPS works
• How GPS codes work
• Why I use GPS for my research
The Global Positioning System is a constellation of 31
satellites that is used to calculate your position.
GPS
So, a GPS signal tells you how far you are from
the transmitter.
If the distance from the GPS transmitter is 250 miles, that means
you are somewhere on a circle of radius 250 miles.
Now add a 2nd transmitter in Ft. Collins.
Radon is at the intersection
And a third transmitter in Pueblo of the 3 circles
This only works if:
• You know where the transmitters are.
• GPS signals also transmit the satellite
locations.
• Everyone has good clocks.
• The GPS satellites have very good clocks. A
GPS user can use a 4th signal to piggy-back
onto the GPS satellite clocks.
• And you can tell the transmitters apart.
• The signals are made in a way so that you
can tell which transmitter sent them.
• For real problems, we use the intersection of
three spheres, not three circles.
Intersecting Spheres
100111101110100010011011111111101
000010001010011100001110010010001
100111101110100010011011111111111
000010001010011100001110010010001
14 agree
Total score: 3
11 disagree
01100010101011001000100100000110000011110000
11000101010110010001001000001100000111100001
Agreement is perfect
It’s useful to have a computer
to do these comparisons,
especially since you have to
test a lot of different shifts.
Then you can plot how good
the agreement is as a
function of shift.
Satellite 9 compared to Satellite 10 code
Satellite 10 compared to Satellite 10 code
Australia
Hawaii
Antarctica
Let’s use a GPS site in Canada as an example
Churchill, Manitoba
Each red dot tells
you the position of
a GPS receiver on
a single day.
Churchill is moving
1.9 cm/yr west, 0.6
cm/yr south, and 1.1
cm/yr up.
Churchill, Manitoba