Marine applications of the global positioning system

Abstract

Due to its availability and accuracy, the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS)'of navigation satellites may be exploited by the marine community to support a wide range of applications, the scope of which are only how being realized. Designed for navigation, GPS offers to provide an infrastructure for not only marine navigation, but also for a broad range of commercial, scientific and governmental activities which,-in the future, may be accomplished with increased accuracy, and timeliness. GPS, in conjunction with other key technologies, will contribute to new applications in many significant areas such as marine crustal dynamics. This paper provides a survey of some of the applications of GPS in the marine environment, contrasting, where possible, past or current technology with GPS capabilities.