Hello my name is Julia Roscher. With this PowerPoint I will be explaining to you how GPS is used to help the environment. More precisely I will be describing how GPS is being used to Track Blue Whales in the vast ocean.

This is an overview of the different steps needed to be done to successfully tag a whale and receive the information from the satellite tag. As you can see it is a complex process that needs the corporation of many people. It starts with locating a whale and ending with the displaying of the information for others to see.

Step 1 & 2: A group of scientists has to be gathered who wants to learn more about the Blue Whales and what they can do to help them. Also the funding has to be raised prior to setting out because the equipment needed to successfully track a whale is expensive.

Step 3: once the whale is located a cross-bow is loaded with the Satellite tag. The tag is shot into the whale. It is then recorded which whale has received which tag to that later on the scientists can identify which whale the information they are getting is coming from.

Step 4: Once the whale is tag it goes about its like with the Tag attached. The tag is designed to power down when under water so to conserve battery power. However, while off the tag is still able to retain all the information it was programmed to remember.

Step 5: is when the whale surfaces again. The tag responds to the air by waking up. Normally it turns back on after 7 minuets above water. Once turned on the tag starts preparing to receive a satellite signal. The GPS tag does not output signals.

Step 6: A Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) satellite has to pass over head. The satellite orbits 14.1 times a day. The average orbit takes 99 minuets to orbit the earth.

Step 7: The POES satellites are continuously transmitting signals. The satellite outputs radio waves until it hits a GPS tag. Once the GPS tag and satellite make a connection the GPS tag passes on information to the satellite.

Step 8: The satellite does triangulation to determine the location the GPS signal is coming from. Since there is such a huge distance between the tag and the satellite the position of the tag is hard to determine. Triangulation uses different angles to find the exact location of the thing being annalysed.

Step 8: The information received by the satellite is transmitted to the processing center. The processing center analyses the information and converts the data into information a computer can understand.

Step 9: The data is sent to a computer of the organization that is gathering the information from the whales. The computers require a source of power to stay on and a server in order to transfer the information form one computer to the next.

Step 10: The data analyzed by the computer is then displayed in a way that scientists can understand. The information displayed is normally show in the form of graphs or table and charts. The data gathered is about the whales position, surfacing habits, feeding, etc.

Step 11: The information processed by the scientists is the projected to the ocean shipping carriers. The shipping carriers then use the data to bypass pods of whales. This avoidance of the whales saves the carriers a lot of money but some inconvienence.

ArgGis is one of the main software used to represent the data received by the GPS tag so others can view the information. ArcGis is a program used to make graphical images of information gathered. The program is also set up to be easily transferable form one computer to another.

The different hardware involved in this process are the GPS Satellite Tag, the POES Satellite and a computer. Without any of these things we could not receive the information about the whales and provide it to the ocean carriers.

There are many pros and cons related to using the GPS device. Ocean Carriers have to benefit of no fines but they have to deal with alternate shipping routes. A benefit to John Calambokidis, a major research scientist, is that the device will help enhance research on the whales but he has to deal with a large price tag.

Reliability is a large problem with the GPS tracking device. The GPS can be blocked from any signals and not able to make contact with the satellite. Errors can be numeral errors, atmospheric errors, ephemeris errors, multipath errors, and other errors.

There are many laws surrounding Blue Whales. It is illegal to harm or kill them in anyway. By using GPS devices we can learn more about them and save the whales. But besides laws about whales there are also many laws concerning how GPS devices can be used.

Cultural Diversity is also a big problem when dealing with saving the whales. Other countries around the world are not very concerned about protecting the whales, to them they are a source of income. So scientist have a lot of problems dealing with whales in international water because of this.

Here is a bibliography of the various sites I used to find the information in the slides of the PowerPoint.

By: Julia Roscher GPS Whale Tracking

Overview

STEP 1 & 2: SCIENTISTS SET OUT

Step 3: Whale Cross-bowed

Step 4: Whale Descends

Step 5: Whale Surfaces

Step 6: POES Satellite Passes

Step 7: Signals Transmitted

Step 8: Triangulation

Step 8: Processing center

Step 9: Computer

Step 10: Display

Step 11: Ocean Carriers

ArcGis

GPS Satellite Tag POES Satellite Computer Hardware

Pros vs Cons

Reliability

Laws

Cultural Diversity

WhaleNet. "Welcome to WhaleNet - Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts." Go to WhaleNet. WheeLock College, 2005. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. <http://whale.wheelock.edu/Welcome.html>. Smithsonian. "How Does GPS Work?" Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.nasm.si.edu/gps/work.html>. Esri. "ArcGIS | What's New in ArcGIS 10." Esri - The GIS Software Leader | Mapping Software and Data. Esri, 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis10/index.html>. "Garmin | What Is GPS?" Garmin. Garmin, 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. <http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/>. Sources