There was a time before the convenience of GPS wherein, travelers go on expeditions to draw maps and

techniques for people to at some extent know where they are or where they are going. Some would
even look to the stars, constellations if they were desperate. All of these techniques are unreliable and
inaccurate.

GPS was introduced in 1999 by the military for tactical purposes then was opened to the public for use,
it hasn’t been too long ago but its hard to imagine life without it.

GPS stands for global positioning system. It allows for accurate determination of location in long lat and
altitude. The US launched 24 NAVSTAR satellites 20,000km from earth in a spread that has almost every
point on earth in contact with atleast 4 satellites.

How this works

It works by a concept called trilateralization. Your location in terms of long and lat only needs 3
satellites. These satellites constantly bombard the surface of the earth with information. These signals in
nanowaves are received by a receiver, either garmin or your phone. The time interval between signal
launch and received, this is how it knows how far you are from a certain satellite. Spheres then can be
drawn around each satellite with you at the border. Add more satellites to the mix and the time interval
from every satellite is calculated to give a very accurate determination of location.

Importance

It is important in the field of ecology for various reasons. For site collection it is important to know the
exact site for the reliability of your data. Another is for the conservation of animals, determination of
migration habits of fish. Another is for fast reaction time for responding to environmental crisis. All of
these and much more make it important equipment for ecologists.