"The Guide to GPS Positioning is a self-contained introduction to the Global Positioning System, designed to be used in any of the following three ways: as a self-study guide, as lecture notes for formal post-secondary education courses, or as hand-out material to support short-course and seminar presentations on GPS." -- Introduction.

The Global Positioning System is a satellite-based radio-navigation system established for military uses, which as a byproduct has been made available to the civilian community. The system can be used to achieve position accuracies ranging from 100 meters down to a few millimeters, depending on the equipment used and procedures followed. It is thus important for system users to understand what techniques are required to achieve desired accuracies with minimal cost and complexity. These guidelines contain four main parts geared toward achieving that objectives. They explain the fundamentals of global positioning, describe positioning techniques, and discuss procedures for application of the system. General considerations and procedures common to almost any positioning project are presented, along with special considerations which must be made when determining elevations. The appendices include a glossary and a guide to information sources.

Global Positioning System is the first book to guide social scientists with little or no mapping or GPS experience through the process of collecting field data from start to finish. Takes readers step-by-step through the key stages of a GPS fieldwork project. Explains complex background topics in clear, easy-to-understand language. Provides simple guidelines for GPS equipment selection. Provides practical solutions for real GPS data collection issues. Offers a concise guide to using GPS-collected data within geographic information systems.