GPS Services

GPS, or Global Positioning System, is a worldwide radio-navigation system consisting of satellites with corresponding ground stations. GPS uses these satellites as reference points to calculate specific positions on earth, with accuracy by meters. Correct navigation has always been crucial in activities such as aviation or sailing. And because GPS technology provides up-to-date, accurate information, the work of soldiers, pilots, surveyors, engineers, and other professionals has become much safer and easier.

How does LDG use GPS?

Surveying

LDG uses GPS in two main areas – mapping and surveying. GPS is perhaps most widely used for determining highly precise locations anywhere on Earth. Larson Design Group’s survey department uses a highly accurate GPS unit for this exact purpose – to determine locations within millimeters – for surveys, making accurate land boundaries for mapping purposes easier than ever.

Mapping

LDG engineers also use GPS for asset management mapping, or plotting specific objects on maps that makes their locations easy to spot. For example, engineers can plot all of a town’s sewer manholes, with their corresponding serial numbers, and plot them on a map for easier location. Our environmental sciences team uses a less accurate (within 2 feet) GPS unit to assess channel locations, how banks may erode over time, and where fish and other aquatic life make their habitat in area streams.

Putting it all together

Once measurements are taken out in the field with GPS, the data can be brought back to a computer, where software, called GIS, or Geographic Information System, compiles all the data identified by specific locations. This data can then be displayed on top of a map of the geographic area in question, to show the locations of the points taken by GPS.