2006 Essential Guide to GPS, the Global Positioning System: Navstar Satellite Navigation for Civilians, the Military, Aviation and Maritime Users (Two CD-ROM Set)

This up-to-date electronic book on two CD-ROMs provides comprehensive information on the amazing GPS navigation system, which serves to guide everything from roadway motorists to cruise missiles with extreme accuracy. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio-navigation system consisting of a constellation of satellites and a network of ground stations used for monitoring and control. A minimum of 24 GPS satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 11,000 miles providing users with accurate information on position, velocity, and time anywhere in the world and in all weather conditions. GPS is operated and maintained by the Department of Defense (DoD). The Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB) manages GPS, while the U.S. Coast Guard acts as the civil interface to the public for GPS matters. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating and applying the use of GPS as it pertains to aviation. GPS, formally known as the Navstar Global Positioning System, was initiated in 1973 to reduce the proliferation of navigation aids. By creating a system that overcame the limitations of many existing navigation systems, GPS became attractive to a broad spectrum of users worldwide. GPS has been successful in virtually all navigation applications, and because its capabilities are a accessible using small, inexpensive equipment, GPS is being utilized in a wide variety of applications across the globe.

There is encyclopedic coverage of GPS and its uses, with information from the DOD, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, the Joint Program Office, NASA, and other federal agencies. Topics covered include: Aviation Applications * WAAS * LAAS * Air Traffic Procedures * GPS General Information* GPS Status & Outage Info * NANUs & NANU Information * GPS Service Interruptions * Precise Ephemeris Info * GPS Modernization * Augmentation Systems * Reference Information * About NAVCEN * Nav Notes and Information * LORAN C * CGSIC * AIS * Electronic Navigation *Maritime Telecommunications * Local Notice to Mariners * Navigation Rules

The Global Positioning System (GPS) was designed as a dual-use system with the primary purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of U.S. and allied military forces. GPS is rapidly becoming an integral component of the emerging Global Information Infrastructure, with applications ranging from mapping and surveying to international air traffic management and global change research. The growing demand from military, civil, commercial, and scientific users has generated a U.S. commercial GPS equipment and service industry that leads the world. Augmentations to enhance basic GPS services could further expand these civil and commercial markets. GPS is managed by the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee, supported by the PNT Executive Secretariat. The PNT manages GPS and U.S. Government augmentations to GPS, consistent with national policy, to support and enhance U.S. economic competitiveness and productivity while protecting national security and foreign policy interests. The basic GPS is defined as the constellation of satellites the navigation payloads which produce the GPS signals, ground stations, data links, and associated command and control facilities which are operated and maintained by the Department of Defense; the Standard Positioning Service (SPS) as the civil and commercial service provided by the basic GPS; and augmentations as those systems based on the GPS that provide real-time accuracy greater than the SPS. GPS permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine their three dimensional position, velocity, and time, 24 hours a day in all weather, anywhere in the world.