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Volume 12, No. 4 |
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ION Officer Nominations
The following nominations were submitted by the 2003 Nominating Committee for officers of The Institute of Navigation. The nominating committee was chaired by Ronald Hatch.
President: Larry Hothem, U.S. Geological Survey
Vice President: Dr. Penina Axelrad, University of Colorado; Dr.
GÈrard Lachapelle, University of Calgary, Canada
Treasurer: Maj. John Raquet, Ph.D., Air Force Institute of Technology;
John Clark, The Aerospace Corporation
Eastern Vice President: Dr. Chris Bartone, Ohio University; Ray
Swider, OASD C31 Space Systems
Western Vice President: Dan Crouch, USAF, 46th Test Group; Jon
Ladd, NovAtel Inc., Canada
Eastern Council Member-At-Large: Dr. Mikel Miller, Air Force Research
Lab., Sensors Directorate; Dr. Pratap Misra, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Western Council Member-At-Large: Clyde Edgar, The Aerospace Corporation;
Thomas Stansell, Stansell Consulting
Space Representative: Dr. Glenn Lightsey, The University of Texas
at Austin; John Nielson, Rockwell Collins
Air Representative: Ms. Barbara Clark, Federal Aviation Administration;
Dr. John Studenny, CMC Electronics Inc., Canada
Land Representative: Dr. Dorota Brzezinska, Ohio State University;
Robert French, R&D French Associates
Marine Representative: David Wolfe, U.S. Coast Guard; Doug Taggart,
Overlook Systems Technologies
Pursuant to Article V of The Institute of Navigation’s bylaws, “additional nominations may be made by petition, signed by at least 25 members entitled to vote for the office for which the candidate is nominated.”
All additional nominees must fulfill nomination requirements as indicated in the ION bylaws and the nomination must be received at The Institute of Navigation office by April 25, 2003.
Ballots will be mailed by May 5. Election results will be announced during Institute of Navigation 59th Annual Meeting being held June 23-25, 2003, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in conjunction with the CIGTF 22nd Guidance Test Symposium.
The newly elected ION officers will take office on June 25, 2003. Election results will be reported in the ION Newsletter.
EGNOS Signal Now Available For European GPS Receivers
More European GPS receivers will now be able to benefit from the navigation augmentation signals broadcast by EGNOS (the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) thanks to a change of format made yesterday.
Although all Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) are regional systems, it is important to ensure that they are compatible. This change will make each system more effective and ensure that all the systems can be integrated into a seamless worldwide navigation system.
In order to improve this interoperability the ESTB (EGNOS
System Test Bed)1 was switched to SBAS mode 0/2 format on April 1. This
means that the format now adopted follows the standard requiring the message
type 2 to be mapped onto each message type 0.
This new signal format allows the GPS/SBAS receivers available on the
market with only the 0/2 format implemented, to process the EGNOS test
signals. This also makes the signal interoperable with other SBAS systems
like the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in the United States and
Canada together with the Multi Transport Satellite Augmentation System
(MSAS), which covers the Flight Instrumental Region of Japan.
The previous test bed signal (used during the experimental and development phase), though in line with the Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS), had some differences from the WAAS and MSAS test signal. In many cases, this prevented users from performing their trials, or simply familiarizing themselves with different SBAS systems because of some incompatibilities encountered while processing the experimental signals.
The new signal format is still the one designed to broadcast test signals. With their GPS/SBAS receiver, users can finally obtain both WAAS corrections (in the USA) and EGNOS System Test Bed corrections (in Europe). This replicates exactly what will happen when all the SBAS systems are declared operational: a seamless augmentation service to GPS.
1. The EGNOS System Test Bed (ESTB) is the EGNOS prototype which has been broadcasting a Signal in Space (SIS) since February 2000. It is used to support and test the development of the EGNOS system, to demonstrate EGNOS to potential users, to prepare for the introduction of EGNOS and to test the possibility of expanding this system outside Europe. The ESTB provides users with a GPS-augmentation signal that enables them to calculate their position to an accuracy of within a few meters.
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Executive Vice President: Mr. Larry Hothem Treasurer: Mr. John Clark Eastern Region Vice President: Mr. James Doherty Western Region Vice President: Dr. Gérard Lachapelle Immediate Past President: Mr. Ron Hatch
Facsimile: 703-383-9689 Web site: http://www.ion.org E-mail: membership@ion.org
Technical Director: Carl Andren Assistant to the Technical Director: Miriam Lewis Meeting Services/Author Liaison: Connie Mayes Member Services/Registrar: Wendy Hickman Graphic Design/Editor: Paula Danko Information Manager: Rick Buongiovanni |
Reaching Out to Scouts
By John Lavrakas, Overlook Systems Technologies
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How much fun can navigation be? Just ask any of the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts that have participated in Institute of Navigation local section activities, and they’ll tell you. It can be a blast! Members of the Rocky Mountain Section of the ION have actively supported scout troops in a number of ways that any ION section can try. The rewards are great. These activities are educational for the young people, pleasurable for the grownups, and fun for everyone. Hands-on activities involve families and bring generations together. It gets people outdoors, using maps, compasses, and GPS receivers. These activities can involve hiking, biking, and even cross-country skiing.
Does your section want to do things like this, but doesn’t know where to start? Here are some ideas.
Good Start-Up Activities
Whether you are a new section just starting off, or a section taking steps
to revitalize itself, you can organize an activity that is enjoyable and
memorable. “Orienteering” and scavenger hunts make for good
start-up activities, since they take place outdoors, involve teams, and
are fun! Geocaching, the act of hiding “caches” anywhere and
posting them on the Internet, can be another good activity (see www.geocaching.com).
Always plan your activity so there is plenty of food and beverage on hand
for the hungry and thirsty when they return to base camp. For any outdoor
activity, be sure to alert participants in advance to possible dangers
in the activity.
In the summer of 1995, Rocky Mountain Section member Bill Fauver organized a “scavenger” hunt at Palmer Park in Colorado Springs for the ION section members and the local Girl Scouts. In addition to making sure it was a fun activity, Bill designed it to teach the participants some of the benefits and limitations of navigation tools. The goal was to do the best job navigating a predefined course and annotating a topographical map. The course consisted of three key waypoints, along with rather cryptic clues set to rhyme. The parties learned the principles of route planning, compass use, map reading, and operation of the GPS receiver. The course was a circuitous one, starting in a valley, leading the parties to the base of a cliff, then along a trail leading to the top of the cliff and eventually to a ridgeline with a full view of Pikes Peak.
Participants learned that relying on GPS alone was not sufficient when the route directed them to traverse areas that had physical barriers such as a cliff. They learned that the topographical map was needed to obtain information about terrain elevation that GPS does not provide. After the two-hour scavenger hunt, the section arranged for a picnic, along with awards for the best team. All the young people were given t-shirts with the Institute of Navigation Rocky Mountain Section logos embossed on them. Prizes were donated by a sports retailer, a local author of hiking books, and the Rocky Mountain Section.
Great On-Going Projects
Another activity section members can try is to participate in a regular
Scout event. Find an annual activity run by the scouts and plan a navigation-related
activity to conduct each year. For several years, Rocky Mountain Section
member Garth Powell has arranged for section members to participate in
the Boy Scout Jamboree On the Air (JOTA) in Calhan, Colo., held in October
of each year. At the JOTA, section members give a computer presentation
to scout groups explaining how GPS works, its capabilities and limitations,
and the many applications where it is used. Afterwards, section members
host a field exercise where the boys are able to practice using GPS receivers
by following a course laid out for them by means of latitude and longitude
coordinates. The Rocky Mountain Section also has displays of a satellite
model, a computer animation of the GPS constellation, and a computer-mapping
program periodically updating the location of a weather balloon that has
GPS on board.
Action Projects
ION sections can participate in projects in which the group accomplishes
a goal related to navigation. It could be helping to map a trail, define
a race-course, or survey a mountain. In 1993, the Rocky Mountain Section
decided to sponsor a new survey of Pike’s Peak. They coordinated
with the Colorado Department of Transportation, several universities,
professional surveying and mapping firms, the U.S. Air Force, and many
local area companies in the survey that involved scores of participants.
Although this was not a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout activity per se, a number
of students did participate, and it had the extra “plus” of
being done at the time of the 100th anniversary of the writing of the
poem, “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates. Today
a small brass monument sits on top of Pike’s Peak that reads, “Rocky
Mountain ION, 100th Anniversary, Katharine Lee Bates, Pikes Peak 1993”.
The event was even reported on page one of the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph!
Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunities
Watch for those once in a lifetime opportunities in which your section
or members of your section can make a big difference. In 2001, Section
member Alison Brown heard of just such an opportunity when the Girl Scout’s
Mile Hi Council sponsored a “Camp CEO” workshop at Camp Tomahawk
in Bailey, Colorado. The theme, “Navigating Through Life,” provided
a series of workshops run by local “Women of Distinction” to
assist the girls in developing a business plan for a notional product
and company they would launch. Alison decided to make a special contribution
to the program by creating an activity to use GPS receivers to help the
girls navigate to each venue over the weekend. The girls had a great time
using the GPS receivers, and learned a bit about the technology. Alison
also arranged with the ION to provide t-shirts for each of the girls to
take home as a souvenir of the event.
Now It’s YOUR Turn…
When planning Scout activities, the rule is to always find something section
members are comfortable with and activities kids can benefit from and
enjoy. In the Rocky Mountain Section, members have tried a wide variety
of activities because each member has different abilities and interests.
The success of any activity depends on detailed planning and thorough
execution.
Whatever activity your section chooses, there are a number of things you
should do.
• Thoroughly plan the activity, taking into account park reservations,
directions, transportation, printed instructions, and materials. Don’t
wait till the last minute on anything.
• Make sure everyone gets to know one another. Introduce everyone.
Use name-tags if necessary.
• Arrange for basic needs of attendees, ensuring access to water
and restroom facilities. If smaller children are involved, plan for necessary
supervision. And remember, don’t hesitate to use nametags.
• Be professional in your execution of the activity. Be prompt, ready,
and courteous.
• Involve others. Don’t be afraid to ask people to help (people
love to help!), but be clear in your instructions if you do.
• Take a camera and take pictures. Publish the pictures afterwards
on your section’s Web site or in a newsletter. Make sure copies are
sent to the Scout groups -afterward.
• For outdoor activities, be sure to alert participants in advance
to possible dangers. Notify participants of special needs (jackets, long
pants, sun screen, bug spray, sturdy shoes or boots, etc.).
Make the Occassion Memorable
For extra special memories, try some of the following.
• Arrange for something special, such as giveaway items (t-shirts,
pins, key chains, surveying monuments). Be especially attentive to smaller
children.
• Involve local news organizations to report your activity. The easiest
way to do this is to write up a press release, include a few photographs
and send them to the newspaper. Don’t be afraid to try the local
neighborhood papers. They will often publish something the larger papers
won’t, and everyone enjoys seeing their pictures and names in the
paper.
The Institute of Navigation presents unique opportunities for its sections not found in other professional organizations. Involving the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and family members can take these activities to a whole new level of enjoyment and fulfillment. Plan to make Scouting part of your section’s activities. You’ll be glad you did.
And be sure to let the ION know about them. We love to hear from you!
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A GPS Corn Maze: A New and Novel Application
of Satellite Navigation |
GPS cornfield maze creation is a true “swords to
plowshares” application. Using a low cost Differential GPS receiver
and a $95 software program, I was able to design a system that would cut
the number of man hours required to design and create a corn maze from
280 to 21 hours: a difference of 259 man hours. This is a timesaving of
13 fold.
Known mazes and labyrinths date back into history approximately 4,000 years and now GPS and computers are bringing their creation into the 21st century.
With a potential earning capability of up to $83,000 U.S. per season, corn mazes are becoming big business for small farmers.
What Is a Corn Maze?
The first question I usually hear is, “What is a corn maze?”
A corn maze is exactly what it says: a maze cut out of a large cornfield.
Put down your pencil and paper and get out of your chair. This maze is
created for people to physically walk through for challenge and entertainment.
John Rose, a farmer in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., called me in winter 2001 asking if there was a way to use GPS to aid in creating a corn maze. My first reaction was “Oh yes, I have heard of corn mazes.” That was as far as my familiarity with the subject went. When I told my colleagues in the office about my new corn maze project, their response was “What’s a corn maze?” Needless to say, here in Washington, D.C., we don’t have many corn mazes.
What’s in It for the Farmer?
Why would a farmer want to spend time and resources on what amounts to
a game? The usual answer, money. After all, farming is a business, not
a hobby. The corn maze economic statistics are staggering.
In 2001, the forecasted corn crop price in Illinois was $1.95 U.S. per bu (bushel). On average, one acre (~0.40 hectares) of land would produce 159 bu for a total of $310.05 per acre gross. After variable cost adjustments of $179 average, the farmer is left with net revenue of $131 per acre.1 This is what a farmer would typically expect as income per acre of corn.
The Corn Maze Business
The business of the corn maze drastically changes this statistic. Corn
mazes can attract anywhere from 2,200 to 11,000 people per season. At
an average cost of $7 per visitor, the gross income can be from $15,000
to $80,000 from a 10-acre corn maze. If 10 acres of corn is simply grown
and sold, the gross income is approximately $3,100. If the same 10 acres
are promoted as a corn maze, the net income would be about $12,000 to
$78,000 more than growing corn alone.
Typical maze creation, destroys only about 30 percent of the corn. This leaves 70 percent of the corn left to harvest and sell at the end of the season.
The dollar amounts above are for admission only. This is a half-day or daylong family event. The “corn maze season” typically extends from September to November. In addition to the income from admission prices, there are other potential sources of revenue including selling products produced on the farm, t-shirts, and more.
Why Use GPS?
Before GPS, the method for creating agricultural mazes was borrowed from
artists. A painting or sculpture would be created using references in
a grid. One square would make up a small portion of the entire drawing.
A person would draw the maze over grid lines. The maze cutters would go
into the field or garden with their scale drawing showing grid lines and
would lay out a physical grid on the ground using ropes corresponding
to the drawing. The cutters would then cut out shapes or patterns in the
field to match the content of each square. This was an easier and more
accurate method than trying to cut out one large picture. It was a very
good method for its day but that day is over.
Before contacting me, Farmer Rose did a 10-acre, non-GPS aided maze that took 7 people and 5 days to create for a total of 280 man-hours to complete the job.
Mr. Rose then cut his first 10-acre, GPS-aided corn maze. The GPS assisted maze took one man 2 days to complete. This is a total of 16 man-hours including computer work and fieldwork. This is a savings of 264 hours or more than 18 fold. This is a very large labor and cost savings.
Cutting straight lines without GPS is easy. GPS makes creating curves across 10 acres very easy, with less chance of errors. If mistakes are made, corn cannot be transplanted and replanting is usually not an option. The high accuracy of DGPS system guidance helps to avoid errors.
The maze is cut using real-time high accuracy DGPS (<1m. or better with a 5Hz+ update rate). Using GPS receiver equipment with these capabilities, the result is very precise lines and curves.
Making the Maze
Creating the corn maze starts in the field, not the computer. The first
requirement is to obtain an outline of the area to be planted.
A Garmin GPS 76 with WAAS DGPS that has an accuracy of about <2m. horizontal
was sent to the farmer. The vertical in this case was not of much concern,
being that the field was basically flat. This accuracy was acceptable
for obtaining the outline. The farmer simply put the GPS on his ATV, rode
around the perimeter of the 10-acre field, powered down the receiver and
mailed it back to me. Although the farmer would be using his own GPS receiver
to do the actual cutting, sending my handheld receiver for initial collection
gave me control over datums, grid references being used and gave me the
actual stored track doing nothing more than pushing the power button twice.
Once the receiver was back in the office, the process
of georeferencing the track points to be shaped into the maze began.
A program called FUGAWI from North-port Systems was used for the mapping.
FUGAWI is a $95, off-the-shelf program that displays a pre-digitized map
or allows the user to scan a map, and georeference the map to Earth coordinates.
The program allows for navigation, routing and will process a live GPS
receiver output and over-plot position data over the map being displayed.
My theory was if the program would let the user georeference a map, it
would allow a drawing to be georeferenced.
The track points were downloaded into FUGAWI from the GPS receiver and
opened as a new base map as in Figure 1. Coordinates of the four corners
of the field, corresponding to the four corners of the maze drawing, are
recorded for the map calibration step. Corner coordinates shown in Figure
1.
The image of the outlined field was exported from FUGAWI
in a common bitmap raster format. The graphic which is an image of the
field outline track data, was opened into a graphic drawing program called
AdobeÆ IllustratorÆ. The outline image of the field was rotated
with the edge of the outline oriented horizontally to the page. The field
was not perfectly rectangular, so a rectangle was drawn within the field
boundary to contain the drawing. This rectangle was scaled to within 15
feet of the perimeter of the track file giving room for any errors created
by the initial track collection, errors in the GPS receiver used to cut
the maze and mowing errors. Mr. Rose suggested a theme and wording for
the maze. After approval of the drawing the image was imported into FUGAWI
for georeferencing.
After importing the drawing into the FUGAWI Map Calibration program module,
the cursor was placed over one of the alignment reference marks created
in the Illustrator drawing step and double clicked with the mouse. One
of the pre-recorded four corner coordinates from an earlier step was entered
as a lat/lon format as a calibration point. This was repeated two more
times on opposite corners. See Figure 2.
FUGAWI calibrated and georeferenced the drawing. The
calibrated map is opened again into FUGAWI. If all points were properly
calibrated, the drawing will automatically open in the center of the recorded
GPS track.
The final product that includes the base map, drawing and georeference
data was exported as a single 529Kb FUGAWI data file that was e-mailed
to the farmer.
Now It’s in the Farmer’s
Hands
The exported data file was then loaded to the FUGAWI program residing
on the farmer’s laptop. The georeferenced map is opened, FUGAWI processes
live DGPS data and track recording is activated. The record track log
shown by an arrow indicates direction of travel, users current position,
and a track, that is saved in the system, showing where cuts have been
made.
The GPS receiver used for cutting was an Ag Leader 2000 that was removed from his combine. The GPS receiver is differentially corrected using RTCM code corrections transmitted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The Ag Leader 2000 is a <1m. receiver providing accurate enough guidance for the driver to cut where the paths were needed. The receiver outputs corrected GPS coordinate data in an NMEA 0183 ASCII format. The output is used by FUGAWI to determine position, velocity and heading. The 5Hz GPS data output is very necessary to achieve smooth curves and avoid cutting into another path
The laptop and the GPS receiver were placed on the footrest
of a powerful Kubota “zero turn radius” mower where the operator
could view the screen. The mower can turn on its center axis. This is
vital to the driver for making very sharp turns and allows the operator
to turn 180 degrees and go back the way he came without cutting outside
of the designated path. The GPS antenna was placed above the pivot point
of the mower, Figure 3.
Maze Mowing
The mower is now a precision corn maze-cutting tool.
The integrated system was tested by driving it around the perimeter of
the planted corn field. If the track does not deviate more than 1m. from
the blue parameter line on the screen, the setup is successful. The track
of the mower should trace directly over the blue perimeter outline.
The track log is activated and mowing begins. An arrow indicating direction of travel appears on the map. The mower operator sees the arrow move as the mower moves and a track line appears where the mower has cut. Figure 4.
While monitoring the computer readout, the direction
and track are shown in real time while the operator keeps the current
position arrow aligned on the green lines. By keeping the cursor (the
current GPS position) on the green lines perfectly while mowing, proper
pathways are cut and the maze is created. Once cut, the corn will not
grow back and the pathways will remain clear. The perimeter of the maze
is 1.81 miles, not including the paths.
Conclusions
Using an L1 DGPS receiver, a mapping program and a georeferenced drawing,
a maze was very successfully carved into 10 acres of corn using a zero
turn radius mower. This maze is expected to attract many thousands of
people providing them a day’s entertainment and good income for the
owner of the maze.
This method of creating a large-scale agricultural maze through the use of GPS greatly reduced the time and money spent on the project. Using GPS allowed more flexibility and control in the overall process for creation of the maze.
1. Statistics complied by Gary Schnitkey of the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Franck Boynton is vice president of Navtech’s
GPS Supply Division and a technical board member for GPS equipment. He
is certified by several GPS manufacturers for sales, operation and training
on high accuracy receiver systems and OEM products. ©2002 Navtech
Seminars & GPS Supply, Inc. www.navtechgps.com
National Technical Meeting 2003
Where Technology Met Magic!
From January 22–24, the Insititue of Navigation hosted more than 350 people at its National Technical Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Technical session topics included Space Applications; Atmospheric Effects; Innovative Applications; Algorithms and Methods; Modernization: GPS and Galileo; Augmentation Systems: Aviation, Land, and Marine; Carrier Phase-Based Positioning; Receiver and Antenna Technology, Interference and Spectrum Management and Multi-Session Integrated Navigation Systems.
The ION would like to especially thank General Chair Jay Spalding, USCG R&D Center, and Program Chair Todd Walter, Stanford University, for their considerable time and effort. Next year’s NTM will be led by Dr. Todd Walter as general chair and Dr. John Studenney of Canadian Marconi, as program chair.
Thank You to the following NTM 2003 Exhibitors!
- 746 Test Squadron
- Spirent
- Septentrio
- C & C Technologies
- Navtech Seminars
- American GNC
- L-3 Communications
- CAST
- Boeing
- Raytheon
- GPS World
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From the ION Congressional Fellow: Finding a Home on the Hill
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Early in December, I was pleased to learn that I had been selected as the ION Congressional Fellow for 2003. After living in the Washington, D.C. area since 1960, I was excited at the opportunity to spend a year “on the Hill” and work for a member of Congress. I wish to express my appreciation to the Institute of Navigation for establishing the Congressional Fellows program and to the committee for selecting me.
I began my placement orientation by meeting Claudia Sturges, who has for many years been guiding the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows.
In December, I attended a dinner seminar on “Choosing a Career You Love: Beyond Trial and Error,” with Nicholas Lore. Nicholas Lore, the founder of a nation-wide career counseling institute, talked about making post-fellowship employment changes. His seminar was very timely. On Dec.18, I attended the AAAS Christmas party, which included a social hour, dinner, and dancing. At these two functions, I was able to talk with other fellows about the placement process and their experiences working for Congress.
Forty-Two Years on One Page
The first task in the placement process was to prepare a resumÈ in the one-page format recommended by the AAAS. This presented a challenge because I had worked continuously for the Space Applications Branch of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) for 42 years. My work, first as a mathematician and since 1976 as a research physicist, had been involved with the development of two operational systems: the U.S. Naval Space Surveillance System and the Global Positioning System. My work on GPS started in 1964 with the NRL TIMATION program, which was a predecessor to the Global Positioning System. Also, I had been involved with a major classified project, and several collateral top secret assignments. My job descriptions at NRL required a detailed description of my work, as contrasted to the one-page format used for the Congressional Fellow placement.
My Placement Stategy
The AAAS provided me with a list of 30 congressional offices that had expressed an interest in the fellows program, including a list of the committee assignments for each senator or representative. I identified my primary areas of interest as follows: military technology, the use of satellites in the functional areas of communication, navigation, environmental sensing, surveillance, targeting and intelligence. My secondary area of interest is with federal energy policy.
My initial strategy was to match my skills with the assignments and interests from the list of 30 members of Congress provided by the AAAS. One of my first six resumÈs was given to the office of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), where the first ION Congressional Fellow, Phil Ward, had served. At the office of Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-Ga.), the chief of staff (CoS) immediately expressed interest in my qualifications. My first interview was scheduled with Rep. Bishop after he returned to Washington.
In preparation for my first interview on Jan.23, I accessed the Web site of Rep. Bishop to learn more about his interests and committees. I was particularly interested in his long involvement with the Select Intelligence Committee, which has oversight responsibility of the country’s intelligence operations, including those conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, during the interview I learned that his involvement with the Select Intelligence Committee had ended due to the change in the congressional balance of power from the last election. He was now concerned with a possible base closing in his district as well as defense and agriculture issues.
To date, I have had interviews with two senators and two representatives.
On Jan. 27, I attended the ION D.C. Section meeting, which was held at the Senate Russell building and met Dr. Clark Cohen, ION’s 2002 Congressional Fellow. The featured speaker was David Lyles, who had served as staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee.
On Jan. 31, I attended the AAAS mid-year event, which featured a “Symposium on S&T Policy in the 21st Century.” I was introduced as one of the new fellows and given a brief opportunity to speak on my background and policy interests. The keynote speaker was Dr. John Marburger, who is President Bush’s science advisor. Dr. William Wells, who has addressed the AAAS fellows each year for three decades, presented a historical overview on the development of S&T policy, beginning with President Thomas Jefferson.
To date, I have distributed a total of 27 resumes and had four interviews. Two of the four interviewers indicated that they would inform me of their decision some time this week. I have also met with a representative from the Congressional Research Service. During the AAAS meetings I learned that more than 800 fellows have been successfully placed over a 30 year span.
Although I am confident that I will find a placement on the hill, it will be a relief to secure an assignment soon.
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The Real Dangers: A Former Congressional Fellow's
Perspective |
We all remember where we were the morning of Sept. 11. I was just a little more than a week into my Congressional Fellow orientation. My class of 30 other Congressional Fellowship colleagues and I took it as a sign that this coming term was going to present new and difficult, yet exciting challenges. Indeed the experience was all that and more. But now at the end of the term, I am struck by how I see our nation in a different light that I didn’t expect even then.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been fortunate to live the experience to the hilt—being at the wrong place at the wrong time for the anthrax attack and having to take antibiotics, attending lavish star-studded receptions and galas, getting an occasional back slapping from senators, working for the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the midst of two wars, and drinking Manhattans late Friday afternoons with the rest of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ staff in a custom that allegedly dates back to Senator Harry Truman, chairman of the Senate’s first incarnation of that investigative committee.
The main issues I worked on were Energy, Enron, and 401(k) reform. My principal focus was the Enron Investigation, where my boss, Sen. Levin (D-Mich.), chaired a bipartisan inquiry that examined the role of the financial institutions. It was an alarming experience to discover that many of the biggest, most trusted banks in the world were knowing, willful counterparties to Enron’s deceptive transactions in return for hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. I played a significant role in unraveling and exposing billions of dollars of previously undiscovered Enron debt.
Filling the Vacuum
At its most fundamental level, I wasn’t expecting
the institution of the Congress to be perfect, and, of course, it isn’t.
But I’ve been able to see real dangers first hand of which freedom-loving
people need to be aware. They aren’t in the obvious places. The most
alarming to me is voter turnout—often in the single digits of eligible
voters.
When people don’t vote, outside interests fill the vacuum and undermine the legitimacy of our democratic institutions. Significant racial, regional, cultural, and partisan polarization now generates substantial internal friction along clear fault lines that divide society. Of course, terrorism is also a significant outside threat and needs to be taken seriously, but this internal polarization is just as important, if not more so.
Ironically, scholars are just now beginning to realize that much of the polarization actually arises from nothing more than structural shortcomings in our voting system—specifically our zero-sum, single-member district, winner-take-all “democracy technology.” In other words, this is fundamentally a technical issue having to do with an increasingly complex nation simply outgrowing its original voting method design.
Post fellowship, I am spending part of my time working on navigation-related projects and part of my time founding a nonprofit organization that will apply the new insights into these structural issues. It will leverage the Internet to help young people “get out the vote” and make voting more effective in general.
The fellowship experience has been profound, not only for the day-to-day life and the insights that it catalyzed, but also for its impact in shaping my own career. This was absolutely a first class experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all.
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Portney's Corner: Jack and the Rope Stalk
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A farmer in Quito, Equador, discovers a rope suspended in space just above the ground on his farm. The rope appears to be endless and perfectly vertical. It is unattached at either end and continues to remain suspended indefinitely. The rope is of uniform density. Ignore wind effects.
This rope is most likely—
A. A “satellite” in space in a polar orbit and is 12,000 miles in length
B. A “satellite” in space in a geosynchronous orbit and is 22,300 miles in length.
C. A “satellite” in space in a geosynchronous orbit and is 93,206 miles in length.
D. A “satellite” in space in a 24-hour orbit and is 66,000 miles in length.
The rope remains in geosynchronous orbit since it is in
an equatorial plane (Quito is on the equator) and its
centripetal acceleration is balanced by its gravitational
acceleration. The equation for this condition is depicted
below, where R is the radius of the Earth, e is the length of
the rope, r is the radial distance from the gravitational constant,
M is the mass of the Earth, and “satellite” remains in
orbit provided that its centripetal acceleration is matched by
its gravitational acceleration as expressed by:
The integration proceeds as follows:
Using the general solution of the quadratic equation results as:
The solution is simplified as we remember that GM/R2 = g (9.8 m/sec2). The radius of the Earth used is R = 6.4 x 106 m and the Earth’s rotation is ? = 2p rad/24 hrs = 7.3 x 10-5 rad/sec. We find that the length of the rope is 1.5 x 108 m or 80,994 nmi (93,206 statute miles).
And the answer is: C
You can find more of Portney's Ponderables at www.navworld.com.
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From the ION Historian: 50 Years Ago |
Just how much have things changed in fifty years? Fifty years ago a conflict raged in a divided Korea. A woman named Elizabeth ascended to the British throne. Harry S. Truman was finishing his tenure in the White House while Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson vied to succeed him. And television was a small box that broadcast black-and-white images. Color television was in its infancy and few could get reception. Rocky Marciano was the Heavyweight boxing champion, the New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series and the Best Picture Academy Award was given to “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
If these sound like events from a long ago and perhaps forgotten era, consider the corporate members of the ION in 1952–1953. In this article I briefly attempt a “Where are they now?” accounting for 11 of these corporations.
1. North American Aviation. Between 1935 and 1967, North American Aviation built more military aircraft than any other airplane maker in U.S. history. North American Aviation and its Autonetics division were pioneers in the 1950s and 1960s in cruise missile and submarine inertial navigation. In 1967 it merged with Rockwell Standard Corporation to become North American Rockwell and in 1973 became Rockwell International. The space and defense divisions of Rockwell International were bought out by Boeing in 1996. Today, Boeing is among the top five defense contractors including major efforts in GPS and inertial navigation.
2. Northrop Corporation. In 1953, when Northrop became an ION member, it was one of the major aircraft manufacturers of the world with more than 19,000 employees. Still a leader in aircraft and avionics, its recent acquisitions have made it a top five defense contractor. It is also the world’s largest shipbuilder, producing many classes of nuclear and non-nuclear vessels.
3. Trans World Airlines. This perennially financially challenged airline reentered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001. The June 1953 ION Journal reported that the company was in the red in 1949, having accumulated a three-year deficit of $18.6 million. The Journal optimistically reported that the then current TWA president was restoring TWA to profitable status.
4. Hastings Instruments. Founded in 1944 by Charles and Mary Hastings, Hastings Instruments manufactured velocity indicators, thermal mass flow meters, and stack emission monitors. In 1968 they became part of Teledyne, Inc., one of the world’s leading technology corporations.
5. Link Aviation. This Dallas based corporation still provides comprehensive flight training for corporate and private jet pilots.
6. Flying Tiger Lines. This private airline flew principally trans-Pacific routes including carrying military personnel and cargo into Vietnam during the 1960s and ’70s. It was acquired by Seaboard World in 1980 and subsequently by Federal Express in 1989.
7. Longines-Whittnauer. This watch company was established as Longines in Switzerland in 1832. In the 1950s Longines purchased the Wittnauer watch company. They produced and still supply aviator watches and cockpit instruments.
8. G. Felsenthal & Sons. This New York company manufactured aircraft slide rules used to perform navigation calculations involving speed, heading, and wind speed.
9. Lorac Service Corporation. This subsidiary of the Seismograph Service Corporation provided an at-sea precision hyperbolic phase measuring radionavigation system. Its accuracy was about 30 meters 2drms which was about the best at-sea radionavigation available in the 1950s to 1970s. I couldn’t find out when the last Lorac range was utilized.
10. Vard Inc. A Pasadena, Calif., company that manufactured helicopter gear boxes, ball screws and nuclear control rod drives. They merged into Royal Industries in 1961.
11. Farrell Lines. This New York, N.Y. based shipping
company advertised as the only steamship company linking all three coasts
of Africa with the U.S. In 2000, they were taken over by P & O Nedloyd,
the Netherlands based shipping conglomerate.
Fifty years is a long time in navigation.
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GNSS AROUND THE GLOBE
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UTC Timescale Conference
Torino, Italy - May 28–30, 2003
A Conference on the UTC Timescale will be held at Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale G. Ferraris (IEN) in Torino, Italy from May 28–30, 2003. The purpose of the conference is to discuss the future of the UTC timescale.
The Special Rapporteur Group (SRG) of ITU-R Study Group Working Party 7A has held several coordination and technical exchange meetings to generate, analyze, and discuss alternative approaches to reduce or eliminate the operational impact of the leap second. The work to date has produced a consensual opinion that the SRG wants to present and discuss with interested and representative parties.
Invited presentations will be made by distinguished representatives in the areas of International Timekeeping, Navigation, Earth Rotation, Telecommunications and Internet Timing. These areas could be impacted by changes in the UTC timescale. In addition, contributed presentations will be sought to insure that additional viewpoints would be expressed.
Additional information can be obtained from Ron Beard, chairperson of the SRG (Ronald.Beard@nrl.navy.mil) and Bill Klepczynski, secretary of the SRG (wklepczy@comcast.net).
| Academy Honors Brad Parkinson | |
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Bradford Parkinson and Ivan Getting were awarded the 2003 Draper Prize in recognition of their roles in GPS development. They received gold medals and a monetary award at a Feb. 16 National Academy of Engineering ceremony in Washington, D.C. Parkinson was a program director at the Department of Defense for the original definition of the GPS system architecture, engineering, development, demonstration, and implementation. A GPS World editorial advisor since the magazine’s inception, Parkinson is also a board member for Trimble Navigation and a professor emeritus at Stanford University where he has served as principal investigator for several GPS projects. The $500,000 Draper prize goes annually to individuals or groups whose work contributes to human welfare and freedom. This year’s award positions GPS alongside the semiconductor microchip, the jet engine, satellite technology, fiber optics, and the Internet—the inventors of which are all previous Draper Prize recipients. |
Section News
DAYTON SECTION
The Dayton Section met March 13 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. First
Lt. Brian Balazs, a graduate student at the Air Force Institute of Technology,
spoke about the difficulties associated with para-dropping resources (people
and supplies) for different types of missions, especially high-altitude,
high-opening (HAHO) jumping and night jumping by paratroopers during low
cloud cover and foggy conditions. Balazs research introduces a novel application
combining three-dimensional graphics and GPS for a primary navigation
reference for paratroopers. It uses three-dimensional graphics to realistically
portray a paratrooper’s movement in the physical world, measured
by GPS, as movement in a computer generated scene. This reference, presented
as a heads-up display on the night vision goggles paratroopers already
wear, facilitates mission accomplishment in cloudy and foggy conditions.
Thesis Award. Additionally, the Dayton Section presented its Air Force Institute of Technology, Best Navigation Thesis Award to Capt. Terry Bouska on March 20th. Capt. Bouska designed and simulated an enhancement to the CHAPS reference system used by the 746th TS at Holloman Air Force Base. When implemented, Capt. Bouska’s design will add pseudolite measurements to the CHAPS reference system, increasing reference system accuracy during GPS jamming tests. After graduation, Capt. Bouska will be assigned to the 746th Test Squadron at Holloman where he plans to implement his thesis research. Congratulations Capt. Bouska.
HOUSTON SECTION
The section held a kickoff meeting Jan. 28. Twenty-nine people attended,
evidencing enough interest to maintain a solid chapter. The meeting’s
focus was the election of new officers. They are Dave Clayton, chair;
Martin Rayson, vice chair; Shorty Shipp, treasurer; Stuart Porteous, membership;
Michael Barnes, sponsorship; Steve Brown, secretary; and Noel Zinn, -publications.
NORCAL SECTION
At the March 11 section meeting, Jack Reichel offered an “Update
on the History of Navigation.” His comments were followed by Dr.
Todd Walter, who discussed the WAAS/LAAS research going on at Stanford
University.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SECTION
The section met Jan. 30 for a luncheon meeting hosted by the Aerospace
Corporation. Guest speaker Dr. Myron Kayton gave a historical perspective
of inertial navigation and what the future may hold. Kayton discussed
the early development and origins of inertial navigation as used in ship
gyrocompasses, fire-control gyroscopes, and vibration sensors; their evolution
into spinning wheel inertial gyros, tuned-rotor gyros, and lasers; and
into force-feedback accelerometers and pendulous-integrating-gyro accelerometers.
Kayton elaborated on the evolution of navigation computers from analog
to digital and the associated computer algorithms as well.
WASHINGTON SECTION
The Washington Section held its January meeting at the Russell Senate Office Build-ing. Outgoing ION Congressional Fellow Clark Cohen introduced Tom McCaskill, the ION’s current Congressional Fellow, and also introduced speaker David Lyles, a longtime congressional staffer.
Lyles spoke about the legislative process and discussed the experiences of his 25-plus years on the Hill, including his recent role as senior staffer to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He indulged the group with an extensive question and answer period during which many questions were raised about the global positioning system and the current state of the GPS constellation.
At the business meeting, Jim Doherty discussed the importance of the new ION Executive Fellow. Scholarship Chair Terry McGurn passed out an informational flyer describing considerations in developing a section-sponsored scholarship program. Members who would like to participate should contact Terry McGurn at tjmgps@msn.com or a section officer.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SECTION
The section held its annual dinner meeting Jan. 14, at the U.S. Air
Force Academy. The meeting was attended by 28 members and guests and served
as an excellent forum to recap the previous year’s events and look
toward the future.
Outgoing Section Chair Garth Powell of SY Technology summarized the activities of 2002. Highlights included youth outreach activities at local middle schools, GPS receiver tutorials to the Boy Scouts, and an educational presentation at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
The section also elected the following officers: John Broomfield, Over-look Systems Technologies, chair (one-year term); Master Sgt. Stewart Cordero, vice chair; Lt. Stephen Bolt, 2nd Space Operations Squadron, re-elected treasurer; and Jeff Crum, Infinity Systems Engineering, secretary (two-year term).
After the elections, attendees were treated to a talk by Prof. GÈrard Lacha-pelle, ION Western Region Vice President and head of the of Geomatics Engineering Department at the University of Calgary. Dr. Lachapelle presented findings com-paring horizontal position errors at various mask angles with a GPS-only solution and a GPS-plus-Galileo solution. The results clearly indicate that civil positioning performance will greatly benefit from the addition of Galileo satellite signals.
RMS members are looking forward to an active year in
2003 with continued youth interaction programs and renewed involvement
in the 2 SOPS-sponsored GPS Performance Analysis Working Group.
Delta II Launch
Let's Roll!
The Feb. 3 launch of a a Delta II rocket with a GPS satellite aboard marks the first time that nose art appears on a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral.
Throughout Air Force history, airmen have used aircraft nose art as a special way of expressing patriotism and pride. The “Let’s Roll” nose art was created to acknowledge the courage of those who died aboard United Flight 93 and all the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedies.
The words were made famous by Todd Beamer, a passenger on
Flight 93. Beamer, a 32-year-old businessman, husband and father
aboard the flight led other passengers in fighting for control of the
plane before it crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania. He was
overheard on a cellular phone saying, “Let’s Roll!” as passengers
charged the terrorists.
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RTCA Corner
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The 60th meeting of Special Committee-159 was held on Jan. 17 at RTCA. Items approved by the committee and the reports of select work groups follow.
Next Meeting: May 16, 2003
Chair: Larry Chesto, Consultant
Vice Chair: George Ligler, PMEI
Secretary: Young Lee, The MITRE Corporation
The Sixtieth meeting of SC-159, held on January 17th at RTCA, highlighted a week of vigorous working group activity and discussion. The committee reported the recent approval and publication of DO-235A, Assessment of Radio Frequency Interference Relevant to the GNSS. Updates were provided on the WAAS Initial Operating Capability (IOC), expected as early as September 2003. The Program Management Committee has approved consideration of Galileo in future Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS), Minimum Operation Performance Standards) (MOPS) and other SC-159 projects.
WG-1, 3rd Civil Frequency, reviewed the recent Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Program Office (JPO) release of ICD-GPS-705, Revision 2. The goal is a harmonized DO-261 and ICD-GPS-705. The most recent NICE concept (New Improved Clock and Ephemeris messages) was discussed and, in preparation for a new WAAS MOPS, the capabilities of an early Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) L5 signal were reviewed. A new WAAS L1/L5 Signal Specification, independent of any new WAAS MOPS, is planned for the purpose of solidifying the signal structure to aid manufacturers in defining new receivers.
WG-2, GPS/WAAS, initiated activity to address GPS/Galileo integration and revised DO-228, MOPS for GNSS Airborne Antenna Equipment, with updates for the L5 signal, LAAS Cat II/III and Galileo requirements.
WG-2A, GPS/GLONASS, continues to monitor GLONASS
activity to determine if DO-229C should be updated to include GLONASS
augmentation. The key issues are constellation maintenance and industry
support for GLONASS. ICAO SARPS have been published.
WG-2C, GPS/Inertial, continues work on the International Reference Ionosphere
(IRI) model. Considerable time was spent discussing how to perform testing
of GPS/Inertial integration with these models. Material was presented
on GPS/Inertial integrity coasting performance with selective availability
(SA) off. The dominating error source for coast time is gravity deflection
and coast time may be doubled with a gravity error correction.
WG-4, GPS/LAAS, continues to address Cat II/III, Cat I/PVT, Terminal Area Paths and surface surveillance requirements. Changes include harmonization with ICAO SARPS and EUROCAE WG-28/Sub-Group 4. The target date for the revised LAAS MASPS to include CAT II/III requirements is the third quarter of 2004.
WG-5, Airport Surface Navigation and Surveillance, is developing a working paper that reflects the intended use of LAAS guidance information for surface applications. The WG recommendations are expected for the May 2003 meeting.
WG-6, GPS/Interference, discussed an initial L5 Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Assessment Report outline. Areas of similarity and differences with the L1 report were noted. L5 differences will require additional scenarios for transition to final approach, take-off/missed approach and gate operations. Sub-groups were formed to develop the receiver and architecture models.
RTCA, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit corporation that develops consensus-based recommendations regarding communications, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system issues. RTCA functions as a federal advisory committee. Its recommendations are used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the basis for policy, program and regulatory decisions, and by the private sector as the basis for development, investment and other business decisions.
| IN MEMORIAM | |
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Member Frank B. Brady died this February. He had a long and varied career as an aviation electronics engineer and consultant. Expert in landing guidance systems, he wrote numerous papers on the subject and was active in national and international navigation and landing facilities development. During WWII, Brady directed the early introduction of the Instru-ment
Landing System into North Atlantic routes and the European theatre
of operations. Brady served as the Institute of Navigation’s
executive director from 1979 until his retirement in 1990. In 1999,
he became an ION fellow. While retired, Brady wrote A Singular
View, The Art of Seeing With One Eye, now in its fifth edition. |
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WITH APPRECIATION Len Sugarman | |
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Dear ION Members, I read every comment and regard each one as having come from a loving member of my family. And thanks, too, to Joe and Ina Portney for spearheading the effort. Sincerely, Len Sugarman |
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 2003
22-25: EUGIN GNSS 2003
May 2003
June 2003
September 2003
October 2003 |
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All contents (c) Institute of Navigation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.