GPS : the utility destined for the future

Abstract

This thesis, 'GPS - The Utility Destined for the Future', is designed primarily for everyone who wants to acquire the basic concepts of GPS. The governing philosophy of this project has been to produce a text that can be understood by everyone who wishes to acquire more knowledge on the subject, but the text, in particular, appeals to the land surveyor. The first two chapters give an introduction on the emergence of satellite surveying systems. The rest of the text deals with the basic segments of GPS, achievable accuracies, type of GPS receivers, concept of position determination, transformations from one co-ordinate system to another and Differential GPS A tentative evaluation of the use of GPS in the Land Survey Unit has also been included in the conclusion. These evaluations consider the problems of personnel training, cost effectiveness and efficiency and the use of GPS as it relates to each section of the Unit, hence the reason why GPS is the utility destined for the future.