New GPS Satellites!

The US has launched a new GPS satellite and Russia just sent up another 3 satellites to add to their Glonass system.

The addition of the new GPS satellite, due to be on healthy status in early January, will hopefully help with the mid-day down time we have been experiencing lately. This will be especially true once the new Glonass satellites are online since we use Glonass compatible receivers. The more satellites we can see the better the results we obtain and we are able to receive a "fix" position quicker when using RTK. More satellites also means we are able to work more efficiently in areas with limited sky visibility.

We are becoming more and more reliant on the GPS network for our everyday work here at PGS. Most all of our local jurisdictions are requiring mapping to be done on "datum" and we are finding that local control networks are less than reliable. When working on large scale projects it is very important to know and understand the datum that the mapping is on. This makes it much easier to add additional mapping as needs arise and integrate the additional mapping with the original data.

We are looking forward to having the opportunity to test the new satellites and find out exactly how they are going to effect our everyday work. We expect that there will be measurable improvements in effencies and less down time, especially on challenging projects like Boundary Dam and the Icicle Creek.

Cheers all!