GPS: Information Provider or Controller?
A GPS receiver is one of the most accurate clocks in the world, if it has continual access to the satellites. The forte of a clock in a tracking device is short-term accuracy, not long-term consistency. People who really want to know exactly what time it is can set up a base station over a known point and analyze GPS signals for time instead of position. GPS time does differ from UTC time by an integer number of seconds, less than 20 for the near future. There are many applications for which coordinated time is vital. Examples: making the telephone system, the banking system, and the Internet, on which the World Wide Web is based, run smoothly. There will be an increasing number of applications in which GPS signals control equipment directly, rather than going through a human “middle-man.” In such joint GPS/GIS uses as fertilizer or pesticide application, the automated system may steer the tractor while the farmer rides along simply for reasons of safety. Carving out ro...