GPS, “THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE”

E. Schaaf and Associates Inc. owns their own Trimble GPS Receivers and software  We are  proficient in the use of  Trimble  Equipment.  We are  fully equipped with all of the necessary conventional survey instrumentation and communications.

About GPS

GPS is a satellite based radio navigation system developed and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). GPS permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine their three dimensional position, velocity, and time 24 hours a day, under any conditions, anywhere in the world with a precision and accuracy far better than other radio navigation systems available today or in the foreseeable future.

The GPS is a DOD developed, worldwide, satellite based radio navigation system that will be the DOD's primary radio navigation system well into the next century. The constellation consists of 31 operational satellites. The U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFDC) formally declared the GPS satellite constellation as having met the requirement for Full Operational Capability (FOC) as of April 27, 1995. Requirements include 24 operational satellites (Block II/IIA) functioning in their assigned orbits and successful testing completed for operational military functionality.

GPS provides two levels of service, Standard Positioning Service and the Precise Positioning Service.

The Standard Positioning Service (SPS) is a positioning and timing service which is available to all GPS users on a continuous, worldwide basis. SPS is provided on the GPS L1 frequency which contains a coarse acquisition (C/A) code and a navigation data message. SPS provides a predictable positioning accuracy of 10 meters (95 percent) horizontally and 156 meters (95 percent) vertically and time transfer accuracy to UTC within 340 nanoseconds (95 percent).

The Precise Positioning Service (PPS) is a highly accurate military positioning, velocity and timing service which is available on a continuous, worldwide basis to users authorized by the U.S.P. (Y) code capable military user equipment provides a predictable positioning accuracy of at least 22 meters (95 percent) horizontally and 27.7 meters vertically and time transfer accuracy to UTC within 200 nanoseconds (95 percent). PPS will be the data transmitted on the GPS L1 and L2 frequencies. PPS was designed primarily for U.S. military use.

E. Schaaf & Associates has the capability to use both the SPS and PPS Systems depending on the needs of the client. Our equipment is rated to +/- 5mm anywhere on the planet and can be utilized in the most extreme conditions.