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APEC GIT Meeting Seattle - Day 1

June 21, 2010 By: Eric Gakstatter

June 21, 2010 - First Day of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation GNSS Implementation Team (APEC GIT) meeting in Seattle, WA USA.

Here are some bits of information from the conference so far. I will provide better updates to Compass (China), QZSS (Japan), Galileo (Europe) and GLONASS (Russia) later in the week.

 

GPS Modernization:

-Col. Robert Hessin, Deputy Director at the National Coordination Office for Space-Based PNT, presented the status of the GPS. Most of his presentation was information that I've heard and written about before. However, he gave an updated schedule that I'll use a baseline to measure from. He laid out the following schedule:

  • There will be 24 satellites broadcasting L2C by 2016. This translates into seven IIR-M satellites in orbit today, all 12 GPS Block IIF satellites (first one launched last month), and five GPS Block III satellites, which are still in early development.
  • There will be 24 satellites broadcasting L5 by 2018. This translates into 12 GPS Block IIF satellites and 12 GPS Block III satellites. Only one GPS Block IIF has been launched so far.

Russia:

-The Russian delegate confirmed that they are promoting GLONASS/GPS for maritime use in Russia.

-The Russian delegate clearly stated that "we want the civil market to develop" for GLONASS.

 

Adoption rate of RTK Networks:

-Gavin Schrock of the Washington State Reference Network (WSRN) reports that besides the historically slow economy, new subscribers to the WSRN in the past year have exceeded the number of subscribers in any of the past eight years.

 

RF ID technology:

-I've referenced RF ID technology in recent articles. I think you'll hear about this technology more in the future, especially when combined with GPS. I heard about a new application of RF ID tags today at the conference.

I asked a technology advisor for a major air carrier about airport asset tracking using GPS. Specifically, my question was about tracking and managing the ground vehicles and assets on an airport property.

He said it's not cost effective to outfit each piece of ground equipment with GPS receivers. In fact, they are considering outfitting these assets with RF ID tags. He said that for $25, he can attach an RF ID tag on each piece of ground equipment and track that piece as it moves around an airport facility, on the tarmac or in a hangar.

Interesting...if you've read my columns this past six month, you'll know I've had my eye on this technology. This is one more case, in my mind, that tels me this is a significant technology for geospatial applications.

 

Next up, Tuesday's conference coverage. Stay tuned.