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Volpe Center GPS Activities
Welcome to the Volpe Center GPS Activities Home Page. GPS, or the Global Positioning System, is a satellite-based radionavigation system deployed and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS provides extremely accurate and continuous three-dimensional position, velocity, and time information to users worldwide.
The Volpe Center has been involved in GPS activities since the mid 1980's and has extensive expertise in GPS applications for all modes of transportation. Examples of projects at the Volpe Center involving GPS include development of GPS coverage models and outage reporting systems for civilian and military aviators, use of GPS for vessel tracking and navigation in harbors and waterways, human factors studies of GPS applications, development of GPS integrity monitoring algorithms for aviation, investigation of GPS interference sources and development of detection methods and mitigation techniques, application of GPS to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and use of GPS for positive train control, hazardous materials tracking, and tracking of supplies in support of military operations.
Augmentations to the GPS constellation such as the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), geostationary satellites, and inertial navigation systems to improve availability and reliability of service have been examined, as well as the use of differential GPS (DGPS) to improve accuracy.
Since GPS is a global navigation system, another objective of the Volpe Center is to participate in international GPS projects. This activity has increased the recognition of the GPS capabilities at the Volpe Center and offered the opportunity for other nations to capitalize on advances in GPS transportation applications.
In addition to the support provided to each of the DOT administrations, the Volpe Center has been involved in GPS projects for other agencies including the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, Department of State, United Nations, Treasury Department, Department of Energy, Panama Canal Commission, COCATRAM, Airservices Australia, DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung, and Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil de Chile.
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U.S. Department of Transportation