Another Phase Completed In Europe's Quest For Their Own GPS

We’ve discussed other GPS constellations here at RMT in the past, whether it be GLONASS or Beidou. It seems that Europe is moving ever closer to its goal of creating a rival GPS satellite network with the recent announcement from the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA has announced the successful launch of Sentinel-1A back in April, a satellite that is part of the Copernicus Programme. This program seeks to give information regarding the environment, discover the impact climate change has, and as any good GPS constellation would do, protect civil security.

The ESA and the European Commission (EC) are working together on the Copernicus Programme, which they’re hoping will be just as, if not more, accurate and accessible than the US GPS constellation. The launch of Sentinel-1A is one small step toward their end goal. “Sentinel-1A opens a new page in the implementation of Copernicus,” said ESA Director General Jean-Jacque Dordain. “The Copernicus Program will provide European citizens with the most ambitious space-based services in the world for environmental and security applications.”

About Copernicus

Previously called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), Copernicus is simply the European GPS constellation that will allow them to monitor the Earth. Data is collected from numerous sources – ground stations, sensors located in both sea and air, earth observation satellites – and then processed and turned into information that users can trust is both reliable and up-to-date.

Users can expect data in six areas, listed on the Copernicus website as land, atmosphere, marine, climate change, emergency management, and security. You’ll be able to do just about everything the US does with its GPS constellation, like better manage protected land, city centers, farm land, and forests, make GPS tracking devices more accurate and dependable, help tourists find where they need to go, help emergency response crews answer a call for help in a more timely fashion, and so much more.

As the EU said, “The Copernicus programme is not only a tool to improve the quality of life of European citizens, but also has the potential to become a major contributor to Europe’s strategy for growth and employment. Copernicus does not replace existing European capacities, but rather complements them with a view to fulfilling user needs and guaranteeing sustainability and European autonomy in the long term.”

The Sentinels’ Mission

Sentinel-1A is one of two satellites that will transmit constant imagery of land and water surfaces in Europe, Canada, and the polar caps with minimal lag. It’s like on-demand viewing for the landscape, and will help environmentalists more closely study the impact of global warming. Sentinel-1B will join 1A at some point in the future. The entire program is operating on a budget of 8.4 billion euro, and will also make GPS location technology on the ground much more accurate.

Antonio Tajani, EC Vice President, said, “Thanks to Sentinel-1A, the first of a constellation of satellites dedicated to the Copernicus programme, brand new eyes will observe our living Earth as never before and these eyes will be European! The data provided by this satellite will enable considerable progress in improving maritime security, climate change monitoring and providing support in emergency and crisis situations. Multiplying, in this way, the benefits that European citizens will reap from our space programmes.”

Already Seeing Some Action

It was barely in space for two days before it had its first close encounter – a collision-avoidance maneuver was performed in order to avoid colliding with a dead US satellite after separating from its carrier rocket. The US notified the European Space Agency’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany of the impending collision so that they could avoid it.

And more recently,  it was reported on May 28^th the Sentinel-1A was instrumental in reporting radar data allowing the floods in Herzegovina and Bosnia to be mapped. The flooding was widespread, causing landslides and much death and destruction in areas of the Balkans. Hundreds of thousands of residents are displaced, while dozens have been killed. The radar on the Sentinel-1A is able to obtain radar images through rain, clouds, and darkness. This helps monitor the floods at all hours, and demonstrates the real power of this new and improved constellation of GPS satellites.

Sentinel-2

Scientists met in Italy in late May  to discuss development updates in the upcoming Sentinel-2 satellite, over 40 scientists and people in all representing 44 countries. John Latham from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) spoke to his excitement regarding this program, saying, “Timely, high-resolution data are needed for the assessment and monitoring of agricultural productivity. Sentinel-2 data at 10m resolution will transform our ability to effectively monitor the status and trends of agriculture on a global basis, and will significantly assist those countries most at risk…FAO is an active partner and champion user of Earth observation data, and an avid supporter of an integrated Earth observation strategy for resource monitoring built on Copernicus and Sentinel data.”

Count on RMT to keep you up to date on Copernicus Programme developments.

Another Phase Completed In Europe's Quest For Their Own GPS

Arnhem Land, Australia: Combatting Massive Feral Cats With GPS

There is no question that feral cats are a real problem in neighborhoods across America. Millions of cats roaming the streets with no place to call home, scavenging for food in dumpsters and trash cans, getting in fights with house cats who sneak out for the night, spreading disease and fleas, and killing small animals that catch their eye. Animal shelters are overcrowded with these unfortunate cats, hoping to find homes for them all. It’s so bad in some places, shelters will refuse to take in strays as they have no where to put them.

Some rights reserved by malfet_

In northern Australia, in the Warddeken area of central Arnhem Land, they are dealing with a cat unlike any you’ve ever seen before, a cat that has been killing animal after animal just to survive. So many animals have been preyed upon, locals are noticing a decline in various species found there. These feral cats are more than three feet long, some weighing as much as a five-year-old child. Their size makes figuring out what to do about the problem a bit tricky. But they think they’ve figured out the perfect way – GPS tracking device.

How It Happened

When settlers from Europe arrived in Australia and New Zealand, they brought with them their domesticated cats. These cats disappeared into the bush, probably due to the shock of the new environment, and began to adapt to their new home. But while the cats adapted, the animals they hunt did not.

“Let there be no mistake – feral cats are a huge problem and very widespread. It’s a situation that requires immediate action because it could lead to massive loss of biodiversity across northern Australia,” Government Director of Terrestrial Ecosystems Graeme Gillespie said in an interview with ECOS magazine. “Across the continent it’s estimated that there are 15 million feral cats killing 75 million native animals every night.”

He added, “Many Australian mammals have a relatively low reproduction rate which makes them particularly susceptible to population crashes as cat numbers increase.” And increase is just what numbers have done – researchers estimate one feral cat exists on every six square kilometers of land. It is due to this fact that researchers have decided it’s time to do something about it. But what?

The Plan

To begin with, researchers employed the use of dogs – more specifically, a springer spaniel named Sally and a catahoula hound named Brangul – to track the cats. When the dogs discovered a cat, researchers would affix a GPS tracking device in the form of a collar.

But why the dogs? The cats are “very secretive, solitary animals and mostly nocturnal, and very hard to trap,” explains Hugh McGregor, researcher for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). “These specially trained dogs have allowed us to catch more cats than we could have using traditional trapping techniques. On this trip, they helped us find two cats which are now being tracked.”

The AWC plans to use the data collected by the GPS devices to better understand the cats’ behavior and their impact on the habitat. Dr. Gillespie said, “It is really highlighting to us the critical role Indigenous Protected Areas can play in protecting our biodiversity.”

Not Just GPS

Such a big problem requires more than just GPS to fix things. Scientists from Charles Darwin University, together with the Northern Territory Department of Land Resource Management, have been speaking with land owners in the area to find out all they can about the wild cats. They are also relying on footage collected from game cameras with night vision. This is how they’ve reached an estimate for the number of feral cats in the area.

Culling is another method, although rangers are trying to avoid a mass-culling in the hopes they can solve the problem while at the same time allowing the cats to go on living their lives. Research manager with the project Georgia Vallance said, “When these cats are culled by the rangers, they perform a gut analysis, and the amount of animals inside these cats is staggering. One that was culled had the remains of two sugar gliders, a velvet gecko, a bird and some insects… so that’s just one cat, over one day.”

She added, “There’s been some research that cats will gravitate towards recently burnt country because the hunting is easier, and if that’s the case we’ll have to adapt our management regime.”

It is the hope of everyone involved that a solution is discovered that can not only protect the wildlife of this region, but the big cats themselves.

Arnhem Land, Australia: Combatting Massive Feral Cats With GPS

Citizen Scientists Study Domestic Cats with GPS Tracker

Most people say that dog is a man’s best friend, but we do seem to love cats a whole lot. Go online and you’ll find out just how devoted we are to our feline friends. There are thousands of websites featuring cat pictures, cat jokes, cat videos and just overall fawning over kitties. Your Facebook newsfeed probably has a few regular cat pictures or videos posted to it. Go on Youtube, and there are countless videos featuring furry felines doing silly, or sometimes impressive, things. Recently, there was a viral video making the rounds showing a small child being attacked by a stray dog, when the family cat jumps in to rescue the boy, chasing off the dog.

Some rights reserved by Bogdan Suditu

Cats are common, cherished, and can be fiercely loyal pets. Unlike a dog, who might run away if let outside without a leash, cats are often allowed to roam in and out of the home as they please. For cat owners who let their cats play outside, they are quite familiar with the cat’s predatory instincts. Cats sometimes like to bring presents to their owners in the form of their freshly killed prey. Depending on the area you live, these presents could come in the form of bats, mice, rats, birds or other small prey. A cat of mine once dropped a piece of fried chicken on my bed.

Most of the time, these presents are gross and unwanted, but because our little hunters are so proud of themselves, we clean up the mess and probably don’t think too much else of it. But what these cat owners are seeing is a small piece of the impact that domestic cats have on urban wildlife. Cats are natural born hunters with a  strong predatory instinct. They were actually originally domesticated by humans 9,000 years ago in order to help kill pests like insects and mice that were trying to eat the food storage. However, in present times, the abundance of cats in urban areas have many worried about the impact of local wildlife.

In a growing number of cities, it is becoming illegal to let your cat outside without a leash. Cats are still allowed as pets, but they must be kept inside the residence. They are basically treated like dogs, requiring a leash out in public. There are many justifications for the law, one being the high amount of stray cats in cities. Unfortunately, not all cat owners who let their cats wander can be trusted to spay or neuter their pet. Another huge motivation to ban outdoor cats is the high frequency of vehicle collisions involving, and often injuring or killing, cats. The other consideration is the concern for urban wildlife.

This might seem a little counter intuitive. Do we really want wildlife in our cities? For the most part, no. We are happy when cats kill rats and mice and spiders we don’t like. The concern is that the abundance of cats is throwing off the natural ecosystem. Small birds are often a target of domestic cats, and bigger birds and wildlife suffer as well, when there is less prey for them to live off of, especially considering that these cats are fed by their owners on a daily basis. In order to more accurately assess the impact domestic cats have on the environment, researchers are teaming up with the public to conduct a massive GPS tracking study.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences wants to know where your cat goes when you let it out. Citizen scientists of North Carolina can sign up and learn more about the study at www.cats.yourwildlife.org. Cat owners who let their cats wander outside, who are interested in participating in the study, will buy a GPS tracking harness, which costs about $50. Once the harness is received, it should be attached to the cat. For about a week or so, let your cat go about its normal routine. After the week or so, you can detach the harness from your cat and connect the GPS device to your computer. The tracking data will show exactly where your cat went throughout the week, then send the data back to the Museum of Natural Sciences so it can be used for the research project.

Some preliminary studies have shown that most outside cats stay fairly local. They tend to have regular routes they follow around the neighborhood. Some cats, however, will surprise their owners and wander miles into the woods and return home in time for dinner. If you live in North Caroline, why not take part of this study and find out where your furry family member wanders off to? The more citizen scientists volunteer their cats for the research project, the better and more accurate the results of the study will be.

Citizen Scientists Study Domestic Cats with GPS Tracker

GPS Tracking Used in North Carolina Black Bear Study

GPS technology is used all over the world for a wide variety of tasks. The U.S. military developed the technology in order to improve weapons and spy missions. Satellites were launched into space on a predictable orbit and used to pinpoint exact locations via signal receivers on earth. In the past few decades, the technology has improved and become more precise. It has also become widely available for commercial and personal use. Just about everyone has a GPS navigation system in their car these days, if not a GPS-enabled smartphone in their pocket.

In this writers opinion, one of the coolest ways GPS tracking is used is environmental studies and wildlife conservation efforts. We’ve reported many stories on here of how GPS collars are used to study or protect endangered species. Researchers like to use GPS tracking technology because it is fairly non-invasive, meaning that they can observe the animal’s behavior from a distance in it’s natural environment. This tactic allows the researchers to gather data about migration patterns of fish, birds and other animals. It also generally gives a good idea of how the wildlife interacts with its environment.

Not all wildlife studies focus on endangered animals. GPS tracking is also used to help understand and improve the relationship between human settlements and wildlife. One of the biggest threats to any species is losing its natural environment. The further we humans encroach into animal habitats, the more wildlife have to adjust, adapt or perish. Many environmentalist and wildlife advocates hope that GPS tracking studies can help us better understand how to coexist with the wildlife around us.

We have previously published stories of researchers tracking wolves to help protect the local farmer’s livestock as well as the wolves, who are often killed when found guilty of killing a domestic animal. We’ve also written about tracking more common animals, like domestic cats, in order to investigate how they interact with their urban environment and other wildlife, like birds and rats. This story, however, involves the common, yet dangerous, black bear.

In the middle of the Appalachian mountains, a city is thriving among a considerable population of black bears. According to wildlife officials, there are an estimated 7,000 bears living in western North Carolina. The city of Asheville seemed like a perfect place to launch a large-scale study of local black bears. The idea is to trap and collar the local bears and monitor them for a period of six months to a year. This tracking data will provide incredibly valuable information about where and when the bears interact with the urban environment.

The data is so valuable, because the better we can understand what attracts the bears and what is dangerous for them, the better prepared we are to peacefully coexist with the wildlife surrounding mountain towns. The study will track hundreds of black bears over the next four years. The goal is to track at least 40 bears at a time. The study is already under way, with dozens of of culvert traps have been placed in Asheville where bears have been spotted. Many of the traps are in the backyards of residents.

“We put a collar on. We give it unique ear tags,” said Nick Gould, wildlife researcher at North Carolina State University. “We give it a lip tattoo and take other body measurements. It usually takes an hour.” Once the bears have been evaluated and collared, they are placed back in the traps to wake up and be released. The GPS collars are about two pounds and held on the bear with a biodegradable material, which devolves over time. The tracking device either naturally falls off the bear after a year or it can be remotely detached by one of the researchers at any time.

The mountains provide beautiful scenery and weather. Many people seek out homes in the mountains, especially in retirement. As crazy as it might sound to some of us city-dwellers, the local bears are actually an attraction for many of the Asheville residents. “It’s the Appalachians down here. They’re beautiful,” Gould said. “It’s a good bear habitat, and people also like to live here.” However, human-bear conflict is not to be taken lightly. It’s important that studies like this take place so we can better understand our wild neighbors. This way we can make effort to reduce any kind of bear attack on a human, as well as protect the bears from becoming roadkill and other urban threats.

“[The goal is] making sure people are living with them correctly,” explained Gould, “trying to reduce the amount of conflict between bears and humans.” There are many places around the world where bears and other wildlife share their habitats with humans. It’s something that one can get used to, but there are a few precautions that should be taken when living or just camping around wildlife. In order to prevent bears and other annoying wild animals from wandering too close to your home, don’t put leave your dog or cat’s food outside. Also, don’t put your trash out until the morning it will be picked up by the trash truck. It’s also a good idea to remove any bird feeders during the spring, summer and fall months.

GPS Tracking Used in North Carolina Black Bear Study

When You Just Want to be Alone

In the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, Rebecca Bloomwood tries desperately to avoid a certain creditor who is trying to track her down to collect the money she owes his business, which, of course, she doesn’t have. At one point in the movie, Rebecca creates a ringtone for this man that says, “Do not answer this call, it’s Derek Smeath,” to help her avoid the embarrassing phone calls. In one of the funnier parts of the movie, the two characters happen to be in the same elevator together when Derek attempts to call Rebecca, only to hear the ringtone as his quarry leaves the elevator. Well, in today’s world, there is now an app that can help people avoid others, without resorting to clever ringtones.

Split

This new app is called Split and considers itself the “antisocial mobile app.” It was developed by Split Tech after the creator, Udi Dagan, ran into two different ex-girlfriends in the same evening, which created the kind of tension that most people would want to avoid. The Split app uses GPS technology, as well as information from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Highlight, Social Radar, and Tinder to locate the position of people in your contact list and help you to avoid them. You have the ability to tell your device and the app to “avoid” certain people to prevent running into them by accident.

Which Way Do I Go?

Once you have selected the “undesirables” from your contact list, you can use Split to scan your vicinity with GPS technology to discover whether any of them might be near your location. Perhaps you might want to avoid an ex-girlfriend like the app’s creator, or perhaps someone else you might want to avoid at that time, but you don’t want to rely on your senses to warn you fast enough. Once this app locates the people, it will not only tell you where they are located, but also point out the direction you should flee in order to avoid the confrontation. The app will do this using GPS technology to help you find the fastest way to avoid who you want to miss.

Anti-Social Media – Split joins a growing list of Anti-Social Media apps and media. Here is a list of others:

·         Antii-Social: Blocks certain social media sites that are known time-wasters

·         Cloak: Does some of the same tasks Split does, but only uses feeds from Instagram, Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook.

·         Anomo: An app designed to allow you to control what people learn about you on social media sites.

The Anti-Social App Made Easy

With so many apps and social media networks established to help people connect, this is one that really works hard to help you avoid people. The GPS technology feature is a nice touch to help you find your escape routes. It also allows you to figure out just how close you are to those you want to avoid, in order to help make sure you can continue to avoid them later on. There are additional features and add-ons that can also help alert you to who the person is with to help you avoid that person, as well, if only for that occasion.

Additional Benefits

There are many other things this app can do to help you avoid people. The app offers real time alerts using GPS technology to continue to scan for those on your avoid list. Split can alert you to the fact that you might be attending an event where the person you hope to avoid is also attending. It will keep track of “Danger Zones,” where the person you want to avoid has tended to hang out. You can look at where you plan to be to see if there is anybody there before you arrive. You can also figure out who is associated with the person you are avoiding to help avoid that person in the future.

Avoidance or Stalking?

There is, however, the potential for using this mobile app in an undesirable way. While the purpose of the app is to help you avoid certain people of your choosing, it could conceivably also be used to “stalk” the person of your choice, since it tells you where certain people are and who they are with. The developers believe only about 1% of the apps users would do this, but it may be cause for alarm, nonetheless. GPS technology has both the ability to allow us to do things we never thought possible, and also gives us the ability to do things we never should do.

Are there people you want to avoid in your life? Chances are good that there are. Now you have an app that can use GPS technology to keep you away from anyone you need to. There are just times in your life when you want to be left alone, when you don’t want to bring up old memories or failures. Split can help you achieve this goal by making sure you can hide as much as possible to avoid those awkward confrontations.

When You Just Want to be Alone

Tracking the Lone Wolf

Wolves are known for traveling in packs, but when one wolf bucked the trend in the western U.S., he generated interest around the world—an interest that all started with GPS tracking. Dubbed OR-7, the wolf left his pack in 2011 and struck out on his own. His movements were reported to scientists via the GPS tracking collar he was wearing. They tracked him from Oregon to California and almost into Nevada before he turned around and began heading back toward Oregon again. His GPS collar has lasted for three years, which is longer than anyone expected. When it stops working, it will not be replaced.

Why Track a Wolf?

Biologists use GPS tracking collars to keep track of wolf pack movements with the goal of understanding pack habits, breeding, and population. They usually track breeding pairs of wolves or pack members in order to achieve these goals, which is why there are no plans to replace OR-7’s collar when it wears out. While public interest in the lone wolf has been high, there is little benefit from a scientific or conservationist standpoint to replacing the collar, especially since collaring a wolf can be quite dangerous.

How GPS Tracking Benefits Animal Studies

Wolves are far from being the only animals that have been studied using GPS tracking. Tracking devices have opened windows into the mysteries of the animal world for hundreds of different species. Because many animals live in remote areas, participate in lengthy migrations, or display hostility toward humans, it has been nearly impossible to learn what they do when we’re not around. But GPS tracking has begun to change that. Biologists have used collars and leg bands to follow the movements of many species, including:

Whales	Tracking devices are attached to the whale’s back with suction cups. They record diving depth, activity patterns, and feeding habits.
Elephants	Conservation groups use tags to determine when elephants go near known poaching areas. They can then use drones or other means to herd the elephants away from dangerous areas. The tags also allow them to study the movements and habits of the animals.
Birds	Using GPS tracking devices, scientists have been able to gather a wealth of data about bird migratory patterns. This information would have been nearly impossible to gather without the devices.
Rhinoceroses	Only about 1,000 rhinoceroses still live in the wild in Kenya. Poachers can be blamed for the deaths of many of these animals. To combat the problem, the government plans to place GPS tracking chips in the horn of each rhino. If poachers kill the rhino and take its horn, officials can easily track them down.

The animals listed in the table above are just a few of the species that have been studied using GPS tracking. Others include lions, dolphins, geese, pigs, Tasmanian devils, sea turtles, and many more. Using the devices, scientists have been able to receive glimpses of the animal world that would otherwise have remained a mystery. They can then use this information to aid conservation efforts and provide protection for animal groups.

How Are the Devices Attached?

The method of attachment depends on the nature and behavior of the animal being studied. Scientists use several different attachment methods, all of which are designed to provide the least level of disruption to an animal’s natural habits and comfort level:

• Collars—Collars, like the one worn by OR-7, work well for animals whose heads are larger in diameter than their necks. Wolves, lions, bears, primates, and other similar animals have all been monitored using collar-type GPS tracking devices. Collars (or bands) may also be placed on a leg or wrist if needed.


• Harnesses—Harnesses are used when the body type of the animal makes it difficult to keep a collar in place. Pigs, for example, have heads that taper in diameter from the neck, and would be good candidates for a harness-type device. Harnesses may also be used if the animal is able to remove a collar or band.


• Gluing or taping in place—GPS tracking studies of birds and some marine animals are generally conducted by gluing or taping the device onto the animal. The devices must be very small and lightweight so that they will not interfere with flying or swimming. When the bird molts, the device will fall off.


• Suction cups—For other marine animals, suction cups are the best option for attachment. Whales are studied in this manner. After a day or two, the suction releases and the device falls off.

What Will Happen to OR-7?

Scientists expect OR-7, the lone wolf, to disappear from their GPS tracking readouts very soon. His GPS tracking device has already lasted longer than expected. Since the device will not be replaced, OR-7 will wander into the woods, away from prying human eyes, to live his life in the secrecy enjoyed by wolves for millennia. While GPS tracking can help us gather vital information to assist in animal protection and conservation, there are still some secrets best left to Mother Nature.

Tracking the Lone Wolf

Smart Shoes to Go with Your Smart Phone

Imagine being able to walk around town, any town, like you have always lived there—no tell-tale signs of looking down at a map or referencing a handheld GPS tracking device. Now, imagine being visually impaired and having the same ability to navigate the streets. You no longer have to just imagine; the reality is here. Ducere Technologies, an India-based company, just announced that it is ready to launch the Lechal shoe, the newest thing in footwear to help strangers feel at home anywhere they go.

About the Company

In 2011, two friends came together to change the world. They started Ducere Technologies because they wanted to use their skills to solve problems and improve life, especially for the visually impaired. Krispian Lawrence studied at the University of Michigan and worked in Silicon Valley for six years, while Anirudh Sharma graduated from MIT and was a researcher at the Hewlett-Packard Labs in Bangalore, India. These two bright young men set out to design a shoe that could synchronize with the GPS receivers used in smart phones and tablets thereby keeping the users hands free. Once into the project, they realized that their creation would benefit athletes and trainers as well. The company’s ultimate goal, though, is to help the blind and visually impaired improve their lives; in fact, they promise to donate a pair of Lechal shoes to a visually impaired person for every pair bought by a non-impaired person.

About the Need

There are an estimated 37 million blind people in the world today, almost half of whom live in India, home of Ducere Technologies and its founders. In a country with more than 15 million blind people, there is only one ophthalmologist for every 100,000 people. It is no wonder that Lawrence and Sharma saw a need they felt they could meet using the newest global positioning system technology. Without vision, it is very difficult to get around. The blind have had to keenly develop their other senses and learn to depend on them, familiarizing themselves with their most common surroundings. They use canes, especially the “white cane” of the blind, to help them navigate around obstacles. Some use guide dogs that have been trained to alert their owners to dangers and hazards. None of these methods gives the visually impaired a sense of freedom, but Ducere hopes to provide some of that with their new GPS-enabled shoes and inserts.

About the Shoe

You may wonder where the name Lechal came from. Lechal is the Hindi word for “take me there,” a very appropriate name for these haptic shoes. What does haptic mean? The dictionary definition of haptic is “of or relating to the sense of touch.” That’s just what these shoes do—they buzz the user’s foot to let him know what direction to take. Lawrence describes them as “very intuitive.” The idea is based on the fact that we instinctively turn in direct response to a stimulus. Remember the old trick of tapping someone on one shoulder while you stand behind the other shoulder? The person automatically turns to the side he was tapped on, and we get a good laugh. It works every time. The shoes work in the same way. Once a location is placed in a GPS tracking device, the shoes take over and simply produce a light buzz in the appropriate foot whenever a turn needs to be made.

• Shoe features: The shoe is both stylish and comfortable with sensors built directly into the shoe while the battery fits in the heel. It is also fitted and waterproof. It is not only antibacterial but also washable; just make sure to take the battery out first. Though there is only one style right now, developers are working on styles to fit the formal occasion and the casual as well as the athletic.


• Insert features: Made of the same durable polymer materials, the inserts work just like the shoes and fit inside most types of shoes. They cost the same as the shoes and can be easily moved from one pair of shoes to another.


• Battery features: The shoe’s lithium-polymer battery holds a three-day charge and emits an audio tone to indicate the battery’s charge level. It comes with a two-battery USB charger that responds to audio cues such as snapped fingers.


• Extra features: The shoe’s sensors will buzz if you leave your phone behind, and they will buzz as you near points of interest; just check your phone’s app and GPS coordinates to see what the attraction is. The shoes can also count calories and steps for those looking to stay fit.

Though still in the infancy stage, Lechal shoes promise hope to the visually impaired and adventure for anyone willing to go there. At just $100, these shoes are not much more expensive than your everyday, walk about town shoes, but have far more potential. GPS devices have come a long way and just keep us marching into the future.

Smart Shoes to Go with Your Smart Phone

Should Apps Collect Location Data Without Permission?

If you own a smartphone, your location data gets broadcasted to numerous sources every time you leave your house. Mobile marketing takes advantage of the GPS tracking and location capability in your phone to create ads tailored to your location. So, for instance, if you’re surfing the web while walking downtown, you might see an advertisement for a local coffee shop or clothing store. Many businesses rely heavily on mobile marketing to reach their target audience. Local business owners can tailor their ads to reach only potential customers—not someone three states away. Unfortunately, GPS tracking can also be used for stalking people and invading their privacy. That’s why Senator Al Franken has introduced a new bill that, if passed, would introduce some significant changes to the way such marketing works.

What Would Senator Franken’s Bill Do?

GPS tracking has run into problems with privacy concerns before. Most notably, several lawsuits have been filed regarding the use of GPS tracking devices to track suspected criminals. Most states now require law enforcement officers to get a search warrant before placing a tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle. The goal, of course, is to protect the privacy of citizens while still aiding police departments in the performance of their jobs.

Senator Franken’s bill seeks to address another privacy concern: stalking apps. So-called stalking apps have been developed for the express purpose of spying on another person’s activities and whereabouts. They’re dangerous because criminals and domestic violence offenders can use them to track their victims. In 2006, 25,000 cases of cell phone stalking were reported, and that was back when only a small percentage of the population carried smartphones. Now, with more than half of Americans carrying a smartphone every day, privacy advocates have expressed concern that those phones could give stalkers easy access to their victims’ location.

While it may seem like everyone would be supportive of a bill that seeks to eliminate cell phone stalking, the proposed legislation goes much farther than dealing with stalking apps. And that’s why marketers aren’t happy. Senator Franken’s bill would handicap mobile marketing efforts by:

• Requiring companies who engage in data collection to get permission from the individual before collecting and using location data from a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device.


• Requiring companies to get permission before sharing location data with a third party.


• Requiring companies that collect data from one thousand or more devices to inform the public about what data is collected, what they use the data for, who the data gets shared with, and how an individual can opt out of the data collection.

The bill also seeks to prevent GPS stalking apps from being developed or sold and to prevent apps from secretly collecting location data.

Franken first presented his bill in 2012, but the 2014 version reflects some changes in light of marketing concerns. For instance, a cap has been placed on how much can be collected in damages for negligent violations and companies would be required to disclose only categories of companies seeking to purchase location data rather than listing the companies by name.

What Does That Mean for Cell Phone Owners?

If the bill passes, it will provide protection for stalking victims. Companies would no longer be able to develop or sell apps designed for the purpose of stalking another person. (This would not apply to parents using tracking devices to keep tabs on their children or to emergency situations.) In addition, individuals would regain a measure of privacy that has been lost as society increasingly broadcasts location information via mobile devices. As mobile marketing efforts have mushroomed over the past decade, consumers have become more and more vulnerable to unethical uses of personal location information.

The drawbacks of the bill, however, include heavy burdens placed on marketers and severe (many would argue, too severe) penalties for negligent violations. Those personalized, location-specific advertisements would become much more difficult to utilize, meaning loss of marketing potential for companies and loss of convenience for consumers.

GPS Tracking and Privacy

As the applications of GPS tracking continue to develop, potential arises for its capabilities to be used in a negative manner. But as with all technology, tracking capabilities also offer great benefit. The goal for legislation and law enforcement should be to find ways to utilize the benefits of technology while minimizing its negative impact. Just because a technology can be used do something, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it should. In gray areas such as mobile marketing, lawmakers must consider both the positive impacts of the technology and its affect on individual privacy. As in the case of requiring a search warrant for tracking suspected criminals, lawmakers can provide guidelines for using GPS tracking to help accomplish something good while at the same time preventing the abuse of the technology by those who would exploit others.

Should Apps Collect Location Data Without Permission?

Making it Easier to Borrow Money

What do you do when you need a car, but have bad credit? Perhaps this isn’t a question you’ve ever considered, but for many Americans, it is a real concern. What would you put up for collateral? What kind of interest rate can you afford? What happens if you can’t repay the loan? Will it be repossessed if you can’t pay and you will lose all the money you had put into it? Some car dealerships in Phoenix, Arizona, and other locations around the US are approaching this problem in a novel way: placing a GPS tracking unit onto a car that is financed to ensure that their investment (i.e., the car) does not run away or vanish the moment you miss a payment.

How it Works

Some car companies are placing special GPS tracking devices on their cars that will have the ability to track the location of the vehicle and, in some cases, allow the car dealership to prevent use of the car. This would be done by disabling the car from starting up–of course, dealers have expressed that the devices are not able to turn off a moving vehicle. Once the payment has been received or the account settled, the car would then be allowed to function normally. If the car buyer decides to take off with the car and skip out on payments, the GPS tracking unit would help the dealership find the car before it got too far.

 

Not Your Mommy’s GPS: Other ways GPS is used in vehicles

Keeping track of vehicles that were bought with borrowed money

Allowing parents to keep tabs on the driving habits and patterns of their teen drivers

Used by police to track suspects of crimes

Used by police instead of high speed car chases

Benefits of Use

One of the main benefits to this program is that it will allow banks and dealerships to lend money with confidence that they will not lose the item in the event of non-payment. With that kind of security in place, there are fewer barriers and risks involved in lending money, even to people with bad or no credit. The dealerships and banks would not lose the car, nor would they have to use expensive repo services to re-obtain the vehicle in the event of non-payment. This could also be a benefit to the car buyer in the event that someone might steal his or her new car. The GPS tracking would allow the car to be found before damage was done and keep the car buyer from paying for repairs.

Concerns Over Use

While there are unquestionable benefits to using GPS tracking devices on new and used cars, there are also some causes for concern. You don’t have to be fearful of “Big Brother” to see there is some potential for abuse in this system. As with any computerized system, there is the danger of being hacked. If the bank can prevent your car from starting, couldn’t a criminal do the same? There is also something a little creepy about the fact that a stranger, either in the bank or on the lot, would theoretically be able to know where you are 24/7. While car buyers are notified of the installation of the GPS tracker, it would be fairly common to forget that it is there and be unaware that you are being “watched.”

Yes, But is it Legal?

Just as there are businesses that specialize in putting the GPS trackers on cars, there are other businesses that specialize in taking them off. If you have purchased a car and have found a GPS tracker on it, it is possible that you might be able to find someone to get rid of it for you. If this is the route you go, be aware that you might be breaking your agreement with your lender for the car, and it is important to understand your legal obligations. That being said, Fox News in Phoenix interviewed local police, who said there were no known laws that either prevent you from removing the GPS tracking device, nor were there any that specifically gave the right to place them on your car to dealers.

Perhaps it is an issue that will have to run through the courts before it is decided in any concrete manner. Many of the businesses that specialize in removing the devices had previously been in the business of putting them on. It will be important to make sure you check the credibility of any professional who services your car to make sure they will work ethically with you.

So what is the verdict for this practice? Is putting a GPS tracking device on a used car a smart way to ensure that banks and lenders don’t lose money, or is it simply an invasion of your privacy to know that someone can know where you are at any time? Perhaps the best answer for that is another question: How badly do you need a car? Obviously, there are some concerns about the security issues that are possible, but sometimes you just do what you need to do in order to get back on the road, and that is what many people are choosing to do.

Making it Easier to Borrow Money

Lessons Gained from MH 370, but What Have We Learned?

The disappearance of Malaysian flight MH 370 on March 8 has left very little in the way of possibilities of what happened to the flight. In general, authorities know little more today than they did in the hours after the flight first was known to be missing. There have been reports of trajectories changing, miscalculations of where the flight could have been heading, and random debris fields in the ocean that have led to no concrete evidence of what happened to the large Boeing 777. Conspiracy theories abound and terrorist links have been attempted, but the bottom line is that the only people who know what happened to the flight seem to have disappeared with the plane. Despite all of this uncertainty and conjecture, there are possible lessons to glean from this tragedy.

Would Better GPS Tracking Have Helped?

The short answer to whether or not better GPS tracking could have helped find the plane is probably a yes. However, the longer answer involves so many what ifs and industry changing implications that it is most likely a moot point. GPS tracking, the same technology that is used to find a stolen car, could almost certainly have helped in this scenario. Why don’t airplanes have GPS tracking to figure out where they are and where they are going? The answer is a quite complicated mess involving costs and safety. The cost of retro-fitting thousands of airplanes to provide the kind of capability required to maintain the tracking of these globe-trotting birds would be a large enough sum that the costs associated would not outweigh the benefits, even the potential saving of human life. Not that life isn’t priceless, but rather that flying would become too cost prohibitive for the average person living in the world today.

Largest Number of Missing Persons for Missing Aircraft since 1948

Year	Flight #	Total Missing
3/8/2014	MH 370	239
3/15/1962	N6921C	107
1/11/1965	TC-48	68
3/22/1957	50-0702	67
6/23/1950	N95425	58
8/1/1948	Lionel de Marnier	52

How It Could Have Helped

Approximately 26 different nations have played a role in trying to find the missing plane. Australia has taken the lead in providing many of the resources in use, while American robot submarines have been used to continue the search underwater. Real time tracking with GPS could conceivably have made the search all the more quicker and probably would have turned up results by this time. The tracking of the plane would have differed little from tracking a car or person with the GPS tracking unit sending signals continuously. Whenever any plane goes down, officials want to find the black box, which is the information center for what is going on with the plane. From that device, officials can determine the cause of the crash and provide clues to what was happening in the moments before the crash. Without finding the black box, officials have little to no idea about what happened. Of course, cost becomes a factor here. Besides the cost of the devices, a GPS tracker that would also work to send information continuously throughout the flight at a cost of $3 per minute. Then there would be the added costs of the personnel required to analyze this information. These costs would add up to make flying something only the wealthy could do.

How Could this be Unsafe?

While the GPS tracking information itself would pose no threats to safety, the general computer interface itself could become open to hackers. This kind of set-up may lead to more dangerous conditions if certain capabilities of airplanes are tampered with by hackers. So security would need to be beefed up, which brings us back to the money issue with this information.

Despite the Costs Involved, Will this Happen?

Economists say, “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” stating the fact that there are costs associated with everything. While there are very definite prohibitive costs involved with using GPS trackers on airplanes, there is good reason to believe that this would eventually replace or at least supplement the old fashioned black box recording of airplane travel. Costs are real, but when you consider the cost for the search for this plane has reached $100 million in international money as of April 24, with America footing an $11.4 million dollar bill for their contribution to the search. This money that has been spent, mostly presumably taxpayer money, could have gone further in updating the information systems of all of the planes, perhaps with money to spare. The question becomes, rather, when do you want to spend your money as an industry?

Officials involved with searching for MH 370 have advocated real time tracking in the future. It would appear to be a safe bet that that might happen, but first costs must come down. The nice thing about technology is that it always seems to become more affordable as each new toy is added to the market. The company that makes an affordable alternative for real time tracking will have a leg up on the competition, which is ultimately better for the consumer and the commuter.

Lessons Gained from MH 370, but What Have We Learned?

How Safe is Your Stuff?

While it is very common to have your home kept safe and secure with a security system, or for your car to have an alarm and possibly Lo-jack, how do you protect your possessions that you store off-site at a storage facility? Many storage facilities in America are very secure and offer protective features like 24 hour coverage by a security guard or maintain video surveillance. The problem with that is that while those features may deter some from stealing from your storage facility, they do not prevent the most determined and skillful thieves. Worst yet, they have no ability to get your belongings back to you in the event that items are stolen from you. Police in Rogers County, Oklahoma, may have the perfect solution to help victims get their belongings back.

It’s a Sting

In a recent sting operation, police in Rogers County planted several GPS tracking chips among the various items found in the county’s storage facilities. While the GPS chips will not do much on the surface to prevent theft in the first place, they will go a long way toward finding the criminals, bringing them to justice, and retrieving your lost possessions. In this case, as in others, items that were stolen from the facility had GPS tracking devices located somewhere on the items. All the police had to do was sit back and follow the signal to its stopping point to catch the thieves red-handed with the stolen merchandise. As the sting continues, it is clear to Rogers County police that GPS tracking units are effective at helping to track down criminals.

Citizen Relieved

Local news reported on the sting operation by mentioning one of the victims that had her belongings returned to her. Penni Leach was relieved to know that the call she was receiving was not simply to inform her that her stuff had been stolen and would not be found. Instead, it was a call that provided the cure along with the illness. Yes, her belongings had been stolen, but the thieves did not get very far and would soon be apprehended. For Penni Leach, simple things like the childhood memories of her kids were not lost to faceless and nameless criminals that were able to get away from someone. Instead, she was able to rejoice in the return of her possessions, thanks to the GPS trackers.

Targeting Trailers

Apparently, the main focus of thefts with this sting operation was with trailers. Thieves would simply drive up beside an unattended trailer, hitch it up, and drive away, never to be seen again. Apparently, trailers can fetch a fairly good price on the market, so they tend to be easy targets for thieves. The GPS tracking device could easily be placed on the trailers to alert police to the possibility of merchandise being stolen. One report of the sting mentioned that a trailer only managed to go about 75 yards before being nabbed by the police.

What’s in a Chip

While this practice is becoming more common in law enforcement, Rogers County police are being cautious with information about the GPS tracking chips. There is a benefit to allowing criminals and potential criminals to know about the GPS tracking chips, as that knowledge might deter some criminals. However, police will not divulge too much information for fear that the potential criminals will begin to look for those devices while they are in the act of stealing things and either remove them or avoid them. The appearance of the Tracking devices is not intended to be for common knowledge. Whatever these devices look like, they are helping to put criminals behind bars and make things safer.

Getting the Trackers Yourself

The benefit here to using GPS trackers to make sure your stuff is safe is that it is not something that is relegated only for police to use when conducting a sting operation. The general cost of GPS trackers is going down into the price range that will make it easier for average citizens to purchase multiple GPS trackers and have them installed on many of their own items to make sure those items are safe. The smaller the GPS tracker is the better, and it is important to use these devices in such a way that they cannot be spotted easily by would-be thieves.

GPS trackers offer unique ways to catch thieves. It will always be a challenge to prevent someone from stealing from you. More satisfying is getting your belongings back and safe in your possession. If you are able to catch a thief in the process and help keep someone else safe in the process that is gravy. Police who use these devices are narrowing the gap between people taking advantage of trusting citizens and citizens who get the upper hand on crooks.

How Safe is Your Stuff?

HereO GPS Tracking Watch Puts Child Safety First

Every parent knows the panic of turning around in a store and discovering that his child has wandered off. Most of the time, he’s just hiding in rack of clothing or has turned a corner to look at a toy. But what about those times when the child has truly gotten lost? Or even worse, what if your child doesn’t come home from school when he should or wanders away from the house when he should be playing in the yard? There’s a new watch on the market designed for just those moments—and more. It’s called the HereO GPS tracking watch.

Why Another GPS Watch?

GPS tracking watches aren’t new. They’ve been on the market for several years now. But the HereO watch is different because it’s designed specifically for children ages three to eight. Thousands of children in this age category go missing each year, and while most parents can relate to the experience of losing sight of a child in the store, discovering that your child is really and truly missing creates a much more terrifying scenario. Police officers do their best to recover missing children, but the fact is that by the time the police get involved, it may be too late. The HereO GPS tracking watch steps in immediately to locate your child and return him or her to you.

Special Features of the HereO GPS Tracking Watch

HereO, an Israeli start-up company, designed their GPS tracking watch specifically with small children in mind. It can stand up to hours of heavy play, pulling, banging, and anything else a child might do to it. Special features of the watch include:

Smaller size to fit children better	The GPS components of the watch have been miniaturized to fit into a smaller-sized design. It’s easier for kids to wear and decreases the likelihood of the watch slipping off over small hands.
Kid-friendly plastic construction	Made of strong plastic in bright, kid-friendly colors, the HereO watch will be attractive to children while withstanding rough treatment.
Family location app with real-time alerts	The watch can be synced with family members’ cell phones using the family location app. The app will send alerts if a child leaves a designated area, as well as letting parents know when the child arrives at a specified destination (like soccer practice or a friend’s house).
Panic button	If a child gets lost or feels threatened, he can press the panic button, sending an alert to the parent’s phone so that immediate action can be taken.
Cellular triangulation option	In areas where GPS tracking is not available, the watch can be equipped with a SIM card, enabling a cellular triangulation option for continued protection

When Can Children Benefit from GPS Tracking?

If you’re going to invest in a GPS tracking watch for your child, you want to know that it’s going to be a worthwhile expense. GPS tracking isn’t cheap, but any parent would agree that the safety of a child is of paramount importance. GPS tracking can help keep your child safe in a wide variety of situations, including:

• Traveling to and from school—if your child walks or rides the bus, the HereO GPS tracking watch can let you know that he or she arrived safely at school and safely back home again.


• After-school activities—Children who participate in sports, music programs, academic clubs or study sessions, and other activities after school may not be heading straight home at the end of the day. A GPS tracking watch can let you know that your child arrived safely at an after-school activity, and can also give you peace of mind about safety when the team is on the road.


• Visiting family members—If your child needs to visit a member of the family who resides somewhere else, a GPS tracking watch will let you know that he made it there safely and will keep you updated on where he’s going when he’s under someone else’s supervision.


• Parks, malls, and other crowded places—It’s easy to become separated from your child in crowded public places. A GPS watch will allow you to locate a lost child immediately rather than spending time in panic mode.

Of course, these are just a few situations in which the HereO GPS tracking watch can provide invaluable information. Anywhere your child goes, the watch goes with him, providing peace of mind for you by keeping track of his whereabouts when you can’t have your eyes on him.

Child safety is one of the main concerns for parents, and rightly so. GPS tracking puts a valuable tool at your disposal, helping you make sure your child remains safe. If the worst does happen and your child gets lost, the HereO GPS tracking watch will allow you to take immediate action and to bring in any additional help that you need.

HereO GPS Tracking Watch Puts Child Safety First

GPS Tracking Outlawed

Global positioning systems technology has advanced so far and so rapidly that society can hardly keep up. It has gone from simply helping drivers get around town to giving scientists the ability to predict an earthquake. It has helped companies manage their fleets as well as their assets, and it has helped governments regulate utilities and transportation. In recent years, GPS tracking devices have enabled authorities to monitor parolees and even capture suspects in the act of committing a crime. With so many capacities, there seems to be no end to what GPS can do, unless, of course, the courts step in to set some boundaries.

The Issue at Hand

As GPS technology has grown, so has its uses, some with devious intent. Some may or may not question its use in secretly tracking a spouse suspected of cheating or spying on an employee suspected of shirking his responsibilities, but who would question its use by law enforcement to track down and capture a criminal? The defendant, that’s who. And their argument is usually based on their right to privacy as declared in the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Suspects arrested through information obtained through GPS tracking without a warrant have won landmark cases based on this amendment.

Historical Cases

Even before GPS units, police and other law enforcement agencies used “bird-dog” tracking devices to follow individuals suspected of criminal activity. Lawyers quickly discerned that unrestricted use of such devices could lead to gross invasion of privacy by authorities. Two cases in particular laid the groundwork for later GPS legislation.

• In the 1983 United States vs. Knotts decision, the Supreme Court considered the necessity of obtaining a court order to install and monitor a bird-dog tracking device. In this case, the suspect was arrested after a tracking device placed in a jar of chemicals led authorities to an illegal drug lab. Though investigators had permission to place the device, they had no actual court order; however, the Supreme Court ruled that because the device was used in a public place, the suspect’s vehicle, “nothing in the Fourth Amendment prohibited the police from augmenting the sensory faculties bestowed upon them at birth with such enhancement as science and technology afforded them in this case.” In other words, the suspect’s privacy had not been violated.


• A similar case one year later brought to the fore the privacy issue. The defendant in United States vs. Karo was also suspected of being involved in illegal drug activity; this time, though police officer’s seized evidence from the suspect’s home after tracking a device placed in a chemical in his car. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that “indiscriminate monitoring of property that has been withdrawn from public view would present far too serious a threat to privacy interests in the home to escape entirely some sort of Fourth Amendment oversight.” The so-called “vehicle exemption” from the previous case became tenable at best.

Recent Rulings

More recent cases and rulings have once again raised alarms about the unwarranted use of tracking, be it through global positioning systems technology or otherwise. Two cases in particular are setting the precedent for future use.

• In 2012 the Supreme Court ruled in United States vs. Jones that authorities had violated Antoine Jones’ right to privacy by tracking him for a greater distance and a longer time frame than originally warranted in the court order. Antoine Jones was suspected of drug trafficking, and police had obtained a warrant to implement GPS tracking on his vehicles; however, the Court ruled that authorities had gone beyond a reasonable search and seizure. They fell short, though, of declaring the absolute necessity of a warrant before placing a GPS device on a suspect’s vehicle or possessions. That would be determined a year later by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.


• The Third Circuit court ruled in United States vs. Katzin that law enforcement must indeed have a warrant based on probable cause before placing and/or monitoring any GPS tracking device on a suspect’s car. After investigating a string of Rite Aid burglaries in a three-state area, police kept coming across the name Harry Katzin. They placed a unit on his van and later found stolen merchandise in the van shortly after another reported robbery. Unfortunately, the evidence was deemed inadmissible because law enforcement did not obtain a warrant and were going on only a hunch. The Court of Appeals determined that there is almost no case where the lack of a warrant would be reasonable.

Defense attorneys have applauded these decisions regarding the restriction of GPS tracking, but the question remains. Will too much restriction tie the hands of law enforcement and let hardened criminals go free? Technology and law must work together to protect society.

GPS Tracking Outlawed

GPS Takes to the Skies for Weather

Using the technology of global positioning systems to track weather has been around for some time, but advances are continually being made that give experts more insight. Now, scientists at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have developed a new method that they hope will not only help track storms, especially hurricanes, but also help predict them well in advance of traditional methods.

The History of Tracking a Hurricane

Since the days of Noah’s flood, man has been intrigued by the forces of nature, both its causes and its effects. But man has struggled to anticipate the severity of a storm and get out of its way in time. Before the invention of the telegraph, the only warning coastline dwellers received of impending doom came from sailors fleeing a storm and searching for safe waters to anchor down. This gave people on land little time to prepare.

• 1844—The invention of the telegraph in 1844 made the approach of a hurricane only slightly less dire. Messages could be sent inland that a storm was advancing, so people had some time to board up windows or get to a basement; however, the number of casualties from storms was still quite high. The telegraph could not pinpoint a storm’s location or track its course.


• 1943—Not for another century would weather forecasters have a more precise picture of a hurricane’s anatomy. In 1943, a United States army pilot by the name of Colonel Joseph Duckworth accepted a bet that he could not fly into the eye of a hurricane. His feat paved the way for the hurricane-seeking aircraft used today. Known as Duckworth’s Dare, his stunt proved to scientists that there is indeed an air temperature discrepancy between the eye of the storm and the air surrounding it; in fact, according to the instruments in Duckworth’s single-engine AT-6 plane, there was a 25-degree discrepancy. This information helped weather forecasters better chart a hurricane’s strength.


• 1960—On April 1, 1960, NASA launched its first satellite specifically designated to monitor weather conditions. The TIROS, or Television Infrared Observation Satellite, provided the stunning pictures of swirling hurricane clouds often depicted in textbooks and on television. Such imaging helped meteorologists better track a storm’s movements but could not determine its intensity underneath the cloud cover.


• 1990s—At the end of the century, the U.S. Weather Bureau initiated the formal installation of a national hurricane warning system in three progressive stages. The first involved manned weather stations in the West Indies, Cuba, and Mexico. The second used ships at sea equipped with GPS receivers. And finally, the Bureau placed data buoys in the Golf of Mexico as well as the Pacific and Atlantic seaboards.

The Use of Aircraft in Tracking a Hurricane

The greatest advances in hurricane tracking have come with the airplane. After Duckworth’s Dare, hundreds of hurricane hunters took to the skies. Crews could drop sensors, known as dropsonde, into an already developed storm to record its wind speed and direction, its air pressure and temperature, and its altitude. But what if meteorologists could anticipate a storm in its most embryonic stage? That is what the researchers at Scripps under the direction of Jennifer Haase hope to achieve by placing GPS tracking devices on board commercial aircraft.

• Weaknesses of the old system: GPS receivers are typically fixed to the ground, so they cannot measure data accumulating out over the ocean. GPS-enabled satellites are expensive to launch, and they don’t usually orbit over storm-prone areas. And weather balloons are just launched too infrequently to be an up-to-date predictor. Current warning systems tend to issue alerts 24 hours before a storm makes landfall, but less than one-third of the area alerted will actually experience hurricane force conditions, which is why many people tend to ignore the warnings and decide to just weather the storm, sometimes with catastrophic results.


• Strengths of the new system: By placing GPS units on commercial aircraft, meteorologists have the potential of gathering data on a daily basis from hundreds of aircraft all over the world. Monitoring atmospheric conditions at different elevations and in targeted areas allows authorities to issue more specific and timely warnings. According to Jennifer Haase, “Having dense, detailed information about the vertical moisture distribution close to the storms is an important advancement, so if you put this information into a weather model it will actually have an impact and improve the forecast.”

Scientists call this new GPS-driven system GISMOS (GNSS [Global Navigation Satellite System] Instrument System for Multistatic and Occultation Sensing), and initial test results indicate an increase of more than 50% in the number of atmospheric profiles that meteorologists use to monitor a storm. “This is another case where the effective use of GPS has the potential to improve the forecast and therefore save lives,” said Richard Anthes, president emeritus of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Though GISMOS is currently the size of a refrigerator, developers hope to get it down to shoebox size and placed on commercial aircraft in the very near future.

GPS Takes to the Skies for Weather

GPS Goes Underground

The city of Steubenville, Ohio, recently received $79,500 in funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the Ohio Rural Community Assistance program in order to purchase Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology to map out underground utilities. By obtaining up-to-date mapping of water, sewer, and even power lines, authorities can better manage the city’s resources and save millions in damages. They can keep track of service and inspection records, update system changes, and locate utility-related devices, such as valves and manhole covers to improve efficiency and save lives. And Ohio is not the only state getting in on the act.

Virginia’s GPS Pilot Program to Improve Utility Management

Based in Roanoke, Virginia, the Virginia Utility Protection Service, Inc. (VUPS) launched a multi-phase pilot program in 2006 that integrates GPS-enabled receivers and locators with software applications to help notify utility companies when a land excavation needs to take place in a certain area. This gives the companies time to mark out underground utility sites so that property damage and utility outages do not occur. Such precautions also prevent injury and save lives. VUPS is a one-call notification center that serves as the go-between for excavation companies and utility companies, and they hope to use GPS technology to improve their services.

• Phase I—The primary goal of VUPS was to decrease the rate of over-notification by increasing the accuracy of the locate notification ticket in the first place. By creating a virtual electronic white line, excavators could take a PDA file to the site, walk the area and see the line on an ortho-photography view, and then complete the ticket in the field. The team targeted Fairfax County for their first phase and, after a year’s study, noted an 8% reduction in the number of tickets issued per locate request. Expanding that number throughout the state, where 7.8 million locate notification tickets are issued every year at a cost of $10 a ticket, the program would save the state nearly $6.3 million.


• Phase II—The next goal was to use GPS technology and devices in the actual locating instruments in order to create an electronic manifest that in turn would give excavators a bird’s eye view of the work area complete with utility markings; this would be a huge improvement over the paint and flags traditionally used to mark a site for excavation. The system works by placing GPS units in the locating receiver to analyze real-time depth, the current measurement index (CMI), the frequency, and the locator mode and then exporting that information to a Magellan software application that automatically records the coordinates of latitude and longitude for future reference. “The entire process is done automatically,” said Matt Manning, locating equipment product manager for McLaughlin. “Magellan GPS units are mounted to the utility locator and it’s a one-hand operation. In other words, once you have the GPS unit set up, you basically are controlling all the locating and GPS recording with the push of one button on the utility receiver.”


• Phase III—The last stage is to integrate the GPS technology, its mapping abilities, and the associated software applications directly into the actual excavation equipment. By linking all the components, there would be less damage since an alarm would sound whenever the equipment got too close to a documented utility device.

The Importance of GPS Technology in Utility Mapping

Everyone has probably seen footage of a water line being punctured by a backhoe excavating a site, with great plumes of water shooting into the air. And probably everyone has experienced a power outage because a power line was inadvertently bumped or knocked out during construction. With advances in GPS-enabled location devices, such incidents should fade into distant memory. The statistics prove the importance of implementing this advanced technology in utility management.

• Burst water or sewer lines and downed electrical lines are no small misfortunes. They can cost millions in property damage and even result in personal injury or loss of life. A ten-year study of energy pipelines alone between 1996 and 2006 turned up 680 excavation incidents that resulted in $259 million of property damage.


• Time and money are both lost in the location notification process due to over-notification, as already noted above in the VUPS program. Estimates show that 150 million notification tickets are issued annually in the United States; some are duplications, but most are based on the vague descriptions and incorrect excavation site information sent into the one-call center that results in more notification tickets being issued.

Whether it is helping a firefighter find a fire hydrant faster or an excavator safely negotiate a site, GPS mapping of utilities is crucial. Cities and states across America are recognizing the importance of this technology in efficiently managing many aspects of civilian life.

GPS Goes Underground

GPS-Enabled Drones Gaining Popularity For Commercial Use In Canada

The thought of unmanned aircrafts flying through our neighborhoods can have mixed reactions. For some, the convenience and futuristic technology is more than welcome. However, others have expressed concern about crowded skies and civilian privacy violations. Like it or not, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming a part of everyday life, and quickly gaining popularity for commercial use. One Canadian film company has been using UAVs to filmToyota advertisements and other projects.

“People are a little bit hesitant (at first) because they haven’t seen it done before, and there are some misconception of drone use, especially for the public,” explained Matt Bujok, producer at Kaspi Films. “But it’s definitely growing.” The film industry has taken a liking to drone technology. The drones can be equipped with GPS tracking technology and camera equipment in order to film impressive shots. Typically, using a drone is much less expensive than paying an employee to operate a crane camera or helicopter for the same quality of shot.

The unmanned drones can be controlled by remote or even through a tablet or smartphone application. These UAVs are designed to perform a multitude of tasks and range in size from as large as a Boeing 737 jet to small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. They are used for a variety of tasks in a multitude of industries around the globe.

Drones have a controversial reputation for use in military operations, where flying a manned jet is considered to risky. The drones sometimes are used in surveillance missions, while others are used to bomb targets. “It really is a disruptive technology. It’s changing the game,” said Stewart Baillie, chairman of Unmanned Systems Canada, a non-profit based in Ottawa. For some, this practice has left a bad taste in their mouth for drone technology. However, it’s important not to throw out the baby with the bath water. There are many great and noble uses for drone technology, even if you have a problem with military drone policies.

“Unmanned aircraft have the promise of providing more data for a variety of applications that you wouldn’t even consider using manned aircraft for. It opens us a whole bunch of applications to understand things better, for sectors and companies who were never thinking in those directions before,” Baillie said. Drones are used to help monitor endangered species and protect them from illegal poaching. Amazon is working out ways to use UAVs for to-your-door delivery services. Drones are also used by farmers to study the topography of their land in order to get the most efficient use of pesticides and fertilizer.

In 2013, Transport Canada gave out 945 Special Flight Operation Certificates (SFOC), evidence of the growing interest in commercial use of UAVs. Compared to the 155 certificates issued in 2011, there has been a 500 per cent boost in interest in the last two years. Recreational drones that are under 35 kilograms do not require any certification to fly. The commercial certificates indicate where, when, and by whom the UAV can be operated. According to Transport Canada, unmanned drones cannot be flying higher than 120 meters, in order to avoid any interference with commercial aircrafts. The drones must also be within eyesight of the person controlling the UAV, or someone in contact with the person controlling the UAV.

Like GPS technology, the ability of the drones to easily access information, particularly location information, is the biggest pro and con of the technology. The ability to remotely view and track people, places or objects creates a lot of questions about privacy. “It’s certainly something that we’re going to see more discussion of,” said Roger Haessel, chief executive at the Canadian Center for Unmanned Vehicle Systems. “What are appropriate guidelines on the privacy front?”

The drones can be fitted with cameras fairly easily. As many great uses, both commercial and recreational, there are for drones, it’s not difficult to think up ways the technology could be abused. Imagine a stalker who had access to a UAV and a GoPro camera, who could follow their victims remotely with an iPhone. Privacy is becoming increasingly rare as society gets more transparent. It will be interesting to see how the law around this technology develops.

This writer, for one, is excited about the expansion of commercial and recreational use of drone technology. Remember, GPS technology was also once reserved for military operations. As the technology is more affordable and more is understood about its uses and limitations, we’ll likely get used to seeing UAVs in the sky. I’m looking forward to having my Amazon packages delivered via flying robot. How do you feel about the expansion of UAV use? Leave us your comments!

GPS-Enabled Drones Gaining Popularity For Commercial Use In Canada

Ecuadorian Officials Use GPS Tracking to Help Thwart Drug Trafficking

The State of Things

Have you ever heard of the Urabeños, the Rastrojos, or La Cordillera? How about the Sinola Cartel? Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with these groups, but they have all been linked to the trafficking of illegal drugs in Ecuador. In fact, experts say that Ecuador’s role as a leader in the sale and transport of illegal drugs is on the rise. That’s a role that the country’s leadership would like to diminish and ultimately abandon. But how? Ecuadorian leaders say GPS technology can play an important role.

A Nationwide System

In December 2013, Ecuador launched a nationwide system to track the movement of controlled substances in their country through the use of GPS tracking. The ultimate goal is to dramatically cut down on the flow of such substances into the hands of those who create and distribute illegal drugs and those who create weapons of destruction (i.e., bombs) in the country and throughout the world.

This system is not designed to monitor the flow of illegal drugs themselves; instead it’s intended to monitor the flow of legitimate chemicals that may be misused to produce illegal drugs, such as cocaine, and as ingredients in homemade explosive devices. Such substances include sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid and can be expanded to include potassium permanganate, calcium chloride, hexane, toluene, and acetone.

How Does the System Work?

It all starts from the point of arrival for the substance—whether that’s an airport, shipping dock, or other location. Vehicles that transport the materials for private companies are equipped with sensitive GPS-enabled monitors. If a vehicle departs from its prescribed route or if its cargo doors are opened at an unauthorized time or in an unauthorized location, authorities are immediately notified. In addition, each vehicle includes a “panic button” that a driver can activate if, for example, someone tries to waylay him or highjack his shipment. If the GPS tracking system is triggered, authorities can respond within minutes to ascertain what the problem is.

This system is the only reasonable, accurate, and immediate way to keep track of hundreds of shipments being conveyed every day by the over 200 companies permitted to transfer such materials. In Ecuador as a whole, over 1,800 companies are permitted to sell such materials.

Who is Putting This Program Together?

Ecuador’s National Council for the Control of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (abbreviated “CONSEP”) is the governmental agency behind the creation and implementation of this National Georeferencing System. It’s their responsibility to grant licenses to companies and to ensure that dangerous but legal substances (such as calcium chloride, toluene, and so on) are safely stored and transferred. The implementation of GPS tracking technology has made doing so much easier, increasing drivers’ safety and accountability.

CONSEP was established in the early 1990s as an outgrowth of the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act. Regulations based on the act mandated the establishment of CONSEP with the purpose of “combating and eradicating the production, supply and abuse of narcotic and psychotropic substances and the illicit traffic in them.” It also provided CONSEP with the oversight of those permitted to make and sell “controlled substances” and allowed CONSEP to work with recovering addicts and in the prevention of drug abuse. CONSEP’s mission statement, somewhat loosely translated into English, instructs the group to “generate and monitor participatory processes for drug prevention, with a focus on the subject and a healthy approach to living.” Their vision statement, also rather loosely translated, directs them to “lead a culture of drug prevention with a committed, responsible, and capable team.”

It is interesting that, according to some sources, Ecuador’s drug war is not aimed at eradicating illicit drug use from the populace. In fact, according to the country’s Constitution, the use of illicit drugs is viewed as a health concern rather than a crime. Even more interesting is that CONSEP has set what they consider to be reasonable “maximum amounts” of drugs that would be considered illegal in many other nations. For example, they recommend that citizens of Ecuador be permitted to possess small amounts of marijuana, opiates, cocaine—and even meth, LSD, and heroin.

The Program’s Reception

Leaders of the GPS monitoring program think private companies—who stand to lose profits if their shipments of so-called “precursor chemicals” are stolen—will be grateful for the program. In February of 2014 Ecuador’s Armed Forces Joint Command, in tandem with the country’s Arms Control Department, began requiring companies that legally provide certain levels of these chemicals (more than 200 metric tons) annually to appear on a registry list.

The program has received kudos from as lofty a group as the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board, and Ecuador is working with other countries in Latin America that want to implement such a program in their nations—including Venezuela, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay.

Ecuadorian Officials Use GPS Tracking to Help Thwart Drug Trafficking

Earth-Shaking News About GPS

Who can ever forget the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan in 2011? So many lives were lost and so much destruction caused. And then the questions: What could have been done to lessen the impact? How could more lives have been saved? Technology may hold the answers. Scientists are looking to GPS technology to give them early warning signs for many types of natural disasters, including the notoriously unpredictable earthquake. By combining the precision of GPS with existing technologies used to monitor the earth’s motion, experts may soon be able to warn residents of threatened areas to take cover in time to save many lives.

The Power of Prediction

In the past, earthquakes just seemed to happen without any warning. Today, scientists use a network of seismometers in earthquake-prone areas to pinpoint the center and intensity of an earthquake. Seismometers measure ground motions, including the seismic waves produced by earthquakes and volcanoes. Scientists believe that adding GPS tracking devices to the equation can get them even earlier and more accurate data, thus giving authorities more warning time. The large waves of an earthquake move relatively slowly, so knowing its precise center and intensity within seconds could mean the difference between life and death. How might these statistics have been different if people had been warned earlier?

• October 2013—32 people killed in 7.1 earthquake in the Phillipines


• September 2013—900 people killed in 7.7 earthquake in Pakistan


• July 2013—95 people killed in 5.9 earthquake in China


• April 2013—160 people killed in 6.6 earthquake in China.


• April 2013—37 people killed in 6.3 earthquake in Iran


• February 2013—18 people killed in 8.0 earthquake in the Santa Cruz Islands

These statistics cover only major earthquakes that took place last year and don’t begin to mention the thousands wounded or the extensive damage done. While preventing earthquakes is clearly outside human possibility, early warning systems could get people to safer areas and out of vulnerable buildings before they strike.

Initial Tests

Scientists are currently testing a system that takes existing GPS stations using GPS receivers to see if adding accelerometers will improve their ability to predict an earthquake. The accelerometer can sense even the smallest, most subtle movements in the earth’s crust, especially primary waves that predict the secondary waves that cause the violent shaking of a quake. In combination with the GPS data, scientists can pinpoint an earthquake’s location to within a few centimeters. Authorities can then alert people to take cover, turn off gas lines, stop their cars, and a multitude of other last-second precautions that can be taken to save lives.

A Successful Forecast

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology were able to successfully predict the Nicoya earthquake that took place in Costa Rica in 2012. The Nicoya Peninsula sits on a subduction zone that results in a large-scale earthquake about every 50 years, so scientists have been gathering data in this area for many years. Most recently, beginning in the 1990s, they have employed GPS technology to map the area’s stored energy. “This is the first place where we’ve been able to map out the likely extent of an earthquake rupture along the subduction megathrust beforehand,” said Andrew Newman, an associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. With the data in hand, the researchers predicted that the area was due for a 7.8 scale earthquake. They could not determine a set time frame, but they knew it was coming and that it was going to be big. In fact, the earthquake hit just a few months later and measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, proving the validity of GPS technology.

The Possibility of Prediction

Forecasters have long decried their inability to get earthquake warnings out in a timely, life-saving manner. Although data gives them an idea of changes in the earth’s crust that could lead to an earthquake, the true force of the disaster is usually known only seconds before it occurs. Now, through the work of Professor Kosuke Heki at the Hokkaido University in Japan, scientists may well be on their way to making huge advancements in earthquake prediction, not just forecasting. Professor Heki studies and analyzes GPS signals by measuring the Total Electron Content (TEC) in the upper atmosphere. While looking at TEC disruptions after the 2011 earthquake in Japan, he quite accidentally discovered disruptions in the TEC about 40 minutes before the earthquake hit.

Professor Heki’s work with GPS and TEC is being acclaimed by scientists around the world as a breakthrough in earthquake prediction. With the ability to anticipate a natural disaster as devastating as an earthquake well in advance of its onset, authorities may be able to more effectively get people out of harm’s way and save lives.

Earth-Shaking News About GPS

A Better Way to Farm

Farming has always been a tedious, time consuming, back-breaking way to earn a living. The farmers of our country have always held a high place of respect and awe from the rest of us pencil pushers who take advantage of the sweat of their brow to make sure that we have enough food on our table. Farming has always been a balance between learned skill and guessing game with regards to the weather and nature, and how to best irrigate and fertilize your crops to make sure you have the best yield possible to keep you in business for the long run. Today’s advances in technology is also doing great things to help with farmers. A recent development by Trimble matches the benefits of GPS technology with good old fashion farming to make sure crops are taken care of.

How it Works

The Trimble Irrigate-IQ works with farmers’ irrigation system to remotely control irrigation and fertilization systems using GPS technology to make sure that crops maintain the optimal level of hydration and fertilization. Among the benefits of this system is a way to ensure that the crops receive just the right amount, which will help produce a better crop each season. There are cost savings galore thanks to the GPS technology involved with this product. A farmer would be able to save electricity and gas from operating the system only when it was needed. The environment would be helped by having less runoff of chemicals and fertilizer. There is also the added benefit of being flexible to handle a variety of solutions from several different companies.

Mobile or Desktop Enabled

The use of GPS technology also allows this product to be paired with an app that is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android operating systems. By using the GPS technology, farmers will be able to check on the progress of each pivot for irrigation to make sure they are functioning at optimal levels. They will be able to remotely control the operation of the pivots, while also being able to switch to different levels of fertilizer or water. In addition to the work that can be done using mobile technology, there are also software programs to do the same from traditional desktop and laptop computers. Farmers will be able to acquire the app for free, which will give them greater freedom to manage their irrigation from anywhere.

Balance of International Trade for Agriculture

Year	Result
2005	Exported approximately $4,000,000,000 more than we imported
2006	Exported approximately $5,500,000,000 more than we imported
2007	Exported approximately $17,000,000,000 more than we imported
2008	Exported approximately $34,800,000,000 more than we imported

Narrowing the Farming Gaps

The ability of farmers to use GPS technology allows them to expand everything from the size of their farms to the variety of their crops. With devices like the Irrigate-IQ and others like it, much of the sheer labor is being removed from the profession of farming. As the prices on these devices comes down, it will also allow smaller sized farms to achieve the same kinds of efficiencies that larger farms have enjoyed for years. Using the GPS technology allows for farmers to take more of the guess work out of farming. They still won’t be able to predict the weather accurately (but really, who can?), but the use of this technology will only help to reduce barriers to larger yields.

Virtual Farming

While there will still be a lot of blood, sweat, and tears with farming, the use of GPS technology, satellites, machinery, robots, and so forth is making farming more of a thinking man’s (or woman’s) game. While there is still the need for a lot of brute force and hard labor, the way technology is improving is putting more of an emphasis on working smarter at what you are trying to accomplish. The yield of most fruits and vegetables is growing in leaps and bounds. While the United States continues to import more manufactured goods than we export, we also continue to export more agricultural goods than we import. We have become the breadbasket of the world and with each new advance in technology, our bread basket will only keep giving and giving. Perhaps the amazing part about our increased production is that we are doing it with less land. The amount of land used in farming for pastures or crops has decreased slightly over the past 50 years while we are doing more with the land.

Our nation’s farmers are something to be proud of. The tireless and thankless work they do every day is something to be admired. Using GPS technology for something that is so much more important than finding a faster way to the mall is worth to provide food for so many.

A Better Way to Farm