Global Positioning System technology feeds electronic navigation devices with location data that helps guide aircraft, ships, vehicles or pedestrians toward their destinations. GPS uses some fairly complex calculations, largely based on the trigonometry surveyors use. Satellites in space transmit precisely timed signals to the GPS receiver, which determines latitude, longitude and altitude to within a few yards. d^2 = Re^2 + Rs^2 + 2ReRs*Cos(L) Here, “d” is the distance from the satellite to the receiver, “Re” is the radius of the Earth, “Rs” is the radius of the satellite’s orbit, and “L” is the angle formed between the straight lines from the center of the Earth to the satellite and from the center of the Earth to the GPS receiver. Writer Bio
