New Frontiers in Science - GPS: A New Constellation

GPS has made scientific field studies throughout the world more accurate and has allowed scientists to perform new types of geographic analyses. Geologists use GPS to measure expansion of volcanoes and movement along fault lines. Ecologists can use GPS to map differences in a forest canopy. Biologists can track animals using radio collars that transmit GPS data. Geographers use GPS to define spatial relationships between features of the Earth's surface.

GPS at the Smithsonian
Scientific applications of GPS at the Smithsonian range from regional scale mapping to site-specific surveys. Scientists can use GPS to locate sites within satellite images to help them understand the regional environment. GPS can also be used in documenting specimens collected in the field. In the past, it was often not possible to accurately record the location of collection sites. Smithsonian scientists now use GPS receivers to quickly and accurately identify specimen locations.

Science in the Field
Scientists use GPS for a wide range of applications. Scientific analysis that formerly had to be conducted in a laboratory can now be done quicker and easier in the field.

In this photograph, a Smithsonian scientist is using GPS to perform a topographic survey of a volcano in South America.

Photograph courtesy Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum. Š1998 Smithsonian Institution