Examination and Study Questions for Global Positioning System

Essay Questions

Short Answer

Multiple-choice

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1. Essay Questions

Limit each essay to two double-spaced typewritten pages plus references.

1. Will GPS technology really make much difference to most GIS applications?

2. What GIS applications can make the best use of GPS technology? Which application will be affected the least?

3. To what extent is the problem of georeferencing a major obstacle to the creation of global GIS?

2. Short Answer

Limit your answers to no more than 100 words.

1. No matter how inexpensive and wide-spread GPS technology becomes, why will it not entirely solve the problem of creating precise and accurate GIS datasets?

3. Multiple-choice questions

Choose the best or most appropriate answer(s) to the question.

1. What is selective availability?
   1. The limited window of time during which GPS signals are within line-of-sight of a receiving antenna.
   2. The intentional degradation of GPS signals to deny full access to unauthorized users.
   3. The Department of Defense classification of GPS users with access to the Y-code (the encrypted P-code).
   4. A local tangent-plane coordinate system used to provide flat earth approximations for a small area (<12 km).

2. What is differential GPS?
   1. A method for correcting GPS measurements by comparing bias errors between a known location and the position of a "roving" GPS receiver.
   2. The variance between Code and Carrier Phase GPS positioning.
   3. Multipath or imaging problems that cause position errors in a GPS code-tracking receiver.
   4. The design variations between the US (GPS) and the Russian (GLONASS) satellite positioning systems.

3. High accuracy, survey quality GPS is usually associated with:
   1. differential code phase tracking
   2. low-cost GPS
   3. differential carrier phase tracking
   4. No post-processing software

4. The latitude, longitude, and altitude displayed by a GPS receiver represent:
   1. an estimate of the receiver's antenna position
   2. the height above MSL
   3. the three dimensional position fix with millimeter accuracy
   4. the height above the reference ellipsoid

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