Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Discussions continue on the pros and cons surrounding the possible privatization of the nation’s Air Traffic Control (ATC), with opponents sharing concerns and a proposal by President Trump aimed at looking into taking the air operations duties away from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
By Inside GNSS
One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder. 
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST
1. ANTARCTIC OASIS
Antarctic Peninsula
A view of San Francisco from the Municipal Pier. Wikimedia Commons photo by Blake Everett.The Automated Vehicles Symposium 2017 convenes industry, government, and academia from around the world to address complex technology, operations, and policy issues. With a mission to inform and engage, to support progress towards safe, automated mobility, the symposium will take place from July 11-13 in San Francisco, with Ancillary Meetings July 10 and 14. Abstracts for the poster sessions are due by Friday, April 7, 2017.
By Inside GNSS
The annual Joint Navigation Conference (JNC) is a military positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) event hosted by the Institute of Navigation (ION) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ION 2017 JNC advance conference program is now available online.
By Inside GNSS
NovAtel today unveiled its Oceanix Nearshore correction service at Ocean Business 2017 in Southampton, UK.
Oceanix Nearshore, a subscription-based GNSS correction service for Precise Point Positioning (PPP), provides exceptionally reliable sub-decimeter positioning for marine applications such as dredging, hydrographic survey, mapping and coastal patrolling, according to NovAtel.
With a robust infrastructure, Oceanix precise corrections data is generated utilizing a network of more than 80 strategically located GNSS reference stations globally.
By Inside GNSS
Qinertia INS/GNSS post-processing software. Photo source: SBG Systems. Rueil-Malmaison, France-based SBG Systems will unveil Qinertia, its in-house post-processing software, at the Ocean Business show, April 4-6 at Southampton, U.K.
After the survey, this full-feature software is designed to give access to offline real-time kinematic (RTK) corrections, and process inertial and GNSS raw data to further enhance accuracy and secure the survey.
By Inside GNSSLooking over the initial budget of the Trump administration, we can safely say that the president and his timorous collaborators on Capitol Hill have a maximalist concept of providing for “the common defense” and a minimalist one for promoting “the general welfare,” two of the six missions enshrined in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution.
By Inside GNSS
Figures and ChartsThe GPS community and Virginia-based Ligado are weighing new and upcoming test results as the standoff over interference with satellite navigation services enters its seventh year.
The dispute centers on the company’s now modified proposal to build a terrestrial wireless network supported by frequencies originally allocated for satellites. Though there had been a move some years earlier to augment the satellite services with ground stations the company’s first plan envisioned some 30,000 high-powered ground terminals.
By Dee Ann Divis
EquationsWorking Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
By Günter W. Hein
Demo Test in Italy on Cagliari – Decimomannu line – February 24, 2017. From left: Josef Doppelbauer (Executive director of ERA – European Union Agency for Rail), Maurizio Gentile (Chief Executive Officer of RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), Jean-Pierre Loubinoux (Director General of UIC – the worldwide professional association representing the railway sector and promoting rail transport), Carlo des Dorides (Executive director of GSA). & Carnegie Robotics CTO Chris Osterwood (R).jpg)
Swift Navigation CTO Fergus Noble, left, and Carnegie Robotics CTO Chris Osterwood, right. Photo source: Swift Navigation.A partnership between Swift Navigation and Carnegie Robotics announced this week is expected to yield a line of navigation products for autonomous vehicles, outdoor robotics and machine control.
San Francisco-based Swift Navigation is a startup building centimeter-accurate GPS technology designed to power a world of autonomous vehicles, while Carnegie Robotics, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, provides advanced robotics sensors and platforms for defense, agriculture, mining, infrastructure and energy applications.
By Inside GNSS
Orolia recently announced successful synchronization in multiple indoor locations. Photo source: Oriola.Rochester, New York-based Orolia recently announced (March 22) that in several indoor environments in the field, it has successfully synchronized a Spectracom SecureSync high precision time server with the new Iridium Satelles Satellite Time & Location (STL) time synchronization signal powered by Iridium satellites.
By Inside GNSS
With two federal budgets in play simultaneously, defense spending increases being proposed from multiple directions and a looming government shutdown it’s easy to lose track of where things stand with GPS funding.
By Dee Ann Divis
