GPS Eye-in-the-Sky Software Takes Closer Look Below

At NASA, GPS is a vital resource for scientific research aimed at understanding and protecting Earth. The Agency employs the band of GPS satellites for such functions as mapping Earth s ionosphere and developing earthquake-prediction tools. Extending this worldly wisdom beyond Earth, NASA researchers are even discussing the possibility of developing global positioning satellites around Mars, in anticipation of future manned missions. Despite all of its terrestrial accomplishments, traditional GPS still has its limitations. The Space Agency is working to address these with many new advances, including a "Global Differential GPS" technology that instantaneously provides a position to within 4 inches horizontally and 8 inches vertically, anywhere on Earth. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, no other related system provides the same combination of accuracy and coverage. Furthermore, traditional GPS cannot communicate beyond latitudes of 75deg. That means that most of Greenland and Antarctica cannot receive GPS signals. The Global Differential GPS technology approaches this area of the world using several different GPS signals. These signals overlap to compensate for the gaps in coverage. Now, scientists working in the extreme northernmost and southernmost areas of the world can have access to the same GPS technology that other scientists around the world rely on.