WAAS Technology
April 16, 2009
GPS Systems are governed by the WAAS technology. The question that may often arise in your mind is about the working principle of WAAS. Also while purchasing any kind of GPS system, the term WAAS compatibility is mentioned and you need to be aware of what it is as well as how it works to provide you with accurate results.
WAAS is the abbreviation for Wide Area Augmentation System. WAAS is a complex GPS technology, which was formulated to provide more accurate information about the locations. This is done by using GPS signal corrections; this is achieved by the consolidated effort of the satellites and ground stations. The satellites work with the ground stations to generate designs on the maps, so as to make it understandable to the normal user. WAAS is being developed by the combined efforts of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department Of Transportation (DOT). Their aim to to ease the work of locating flights. On similar grounds, WAAS and GPS work together to meet a normal consumer;s navigational requirements.
As per statistics, currently WAAS is around 5 times more accurate as compared to the GPS system technology. When this GPS technology is combined with WAAS functionalities, then the accuracy can be obtained up-to 3 meters, which is considered to be more than 90% accurate. You can also check if your current GPS system can be upgraded to accommodate WAAS technology.
GPS technology suffers from ionospheric disturbances, orbital errors and precision timings, thus it suffers accuracy issues when used as a standalone system. But when it is combined with WAAS, these errors and disturbances are corrected for precise results. In fact, the GPS satellite information that is communicated to the ground stations is to be monitored, and later compiled to be sent to the master stations. Here the GPS errors are corrected. These corrections are based on a variety of factors that include clock drift, any kind of delays in signal reception, orbital errors, ionospheric and atmospheric disturbances etc. After these corrections are done, the master ground station transmits this information to the stationary geostationary satellite located exactly above the equator. Now a GPS receiver with WAAS compatibility can decode and understand this data received from the satellite.
Right now this technology is available only in North and South America, however it is being worked on to be made available across the world. Also you may lose signals or there may be a time lag for obtaining signal data in mountainous regions or in tunnels as the stationary satellites are situated above the Equator. Right now WAAS is one of the leading technologies used in GPS units. In case your system supports WAAS technology, it will be indicated in the manual. The Garmin eTrex Lengend and Garmin StreetPilot C530 are examples of a few WAAS compatible devices.
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