What could be more alarming than seeing over 35,000 drop of the Puffins’ numbers in just five years! Now with the latest satellite navigation technology, these birds from the Isle of May and Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast can now render information regarding their decrease.
Very little has been known about the birds’ reaction to climate change, pollution controls and how their natural cycle of life. But with the new sat-nav systems to be fitted to around 30 puffins, any retrieved information from the GPS data on the birds should give many clues and answers. The tags are similar to tom-tom devices for vehicles and it stores back-data and then retrieves the tag.
Apart from the usual GPS tags, the birds will also be fitted with time-depth recorders for their diving patterns and reactions to sea temperatures. Scientists are also hoping to get a view of the puffins’ feeding grounds and other areas where they are exposed to get any indication of its effect on the untimely deaths of the birds. The sat-nav will also collect data particularly on the sand eels which are the puffins’ main food source, and how the eels’ migration to the cooler waters has been a huge detriment to the new diet of the birds. Also, the system will look into why the puffins are not returning to the islands for breeding and to nest, and if indeed their winter activities are largely to question about their fast disappearance.
The sat-nav will cover all aspects of how puffins float, swim and dive for food, and return to land during their nesting season, and data retrieved will be processed at the Newcastle University. Scientists are hoping they will soon have the answers and provide the public with the latest developments of the Puffins population decline.
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Telegraph
Posts Tagged ‘gps-news’
India spear-head GPS expansion even in neighboring South East Asia
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
The people have a reason to rejoice. Pretty soon they can have their own satellite-based navigation system for air traffic management. The GPS-aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) System will be providing mainly satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian airspace and adjoining countries in South and East Asia.
Gagan, which incidentally means “sky” in Sanskrit, is augmentation systems for GPS and other operational navigation systems, and is expected to give differential corrections and integrity in the same format as the WAAS of the United States and the Japanese MSAS. The technology demonstration phase has been recently completed and it is projected that the whole system will be ready for operational phase in 2012.
To be jointly implemented by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the state-owned-and-controlled Airport Authority of India, GAGAN is deemed interoperable with the European EGNOS as well to provide seamless global navigation. The more advanced mechanisms of the GAGAN will now make it possible to provide coverage for oceanic areas in addition to its current operational terrestrial systems.
Influx of information related to the GAGAN has since leaked to interested industries since ISRO awarded the $82 million (£50 million or €58 million) contract to Raytheon to build the ground stations for the developed systems. Raytheon will build the ground stations while it will be the ISRO who will provide the space segment and augment the needed ground equipment for the GAGAN.
The Indian civil aviation ministry now holds a hopeful clasp of hands regarding the GAGAN to be India’s great pride; but more importantly, it will advance fully the satellite – based navigation systems for air traffic management of the country and nearby areas.
India’s G-Sat-4 technology demonstrator communications satellite has a navigation payload designed to support Gagan’s functions. It is reported to be launched by ISRO’s geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle in 2010, along with two more payloads for the duo of future geostationary satellites also in the works.
More informative details on the GAGAN and other pursuits of India in GPS can be found at Royal Institute of Navigation
and also at flightglobal.com