What type of technology is used to determine our precise location on Earth's surface?
The technology used to determine precise location on Earth's surface is called Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The most well-known and widely used GNSS is the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is operated by the United States government. However, there are also other GNSS systems, such as GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (European Union), and BeiDou (China).
To determine your precise location using GNSS, several components work together:
1. Satellites: A network of GNSS satellites orbiting the Earth emits precise signals that contain information about satellite positions and current time.
2. Receiver: The receiver device, such as a smartphone or GPS device, receives signals from multiple satellites and calculates the user's position based on the time it takes for the signals to reach the receiver.
3. Trilateration: The receiver analyzes the signals from at least four different satellites to determine the distance between each satellite and the receiver. By comparing these distances, the receiver can calculate the user's exact location on Earth's surface.
4. Data Processing: The receiver combines the information from multiple satellites and performs complex calculations to determine latitude, longitude, and sometimes altitude.
It's worth noting that GNSS technology provides a level of accuracy ranging from a few meters to within a few centimeters, depending on the quality of the receiver, the number of satellites in view, and other factors.