What Information that can be Obtained from GPS Receivers?

GPS receivers provide your location and other useful information:

• Time: A GPS receiver receives time information from atomic clocks, so it’s much more accurate than your wristwatch.
• Location: GPS provides your location in three dimensions:
• • Latitude (x coordinate)
• • Longitude (y coordinate)
• • Elevation
• The vertical (elevation) accuracy of consumer GPS receivers isn’t that great. It can be within 15 meters, 95 percent of time. Some GPS units incorporate more accurate barometric altimeters for better elevation information.
• Your location can be displayed in a number of coordinate systems, such as
• Latitude/longitude
• Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
• Speed: When you’re moving, a GPS receiver displays your speed.
• Direction of travel: A GPS receiver can display your direction of travel if you’re moving. If you’re stationary, the unit can’t use satellite signals to determine which direction you’re facing. Some GPS units have electronic compasses that show the direction the receiver is pointed whether you’re moving or standing still.
• Stored locations: You can store locations where you’ve been or want to go with a GPS receiver. These location positions are waypoints. Waypoints are important because a GPS unit can supply you with directions and information on how to get to a waypoint. A collection of waypoints that plots a course of travel is a route, which can also be stored. GPS receivers also store tracks (which are like an electronic collection of breadcrumb trails that show where you’re been).
• Cumulative data: A GPS receiver can also keep track of information such as the total distance traveled, average speed, maximum speed, minimum speed, elapsed time, and time to arrival at a specified location. All this information is displayed on different pages of the GPS receiver’s display screen. One page shows satellite status, another page displays a map, another displays trip data, and so on. With buttons on the receiver, you can scroll to an information page to view the data that you’re interested in seeing.