Ag Leader Technology Blog

GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite Systems – is an acronym that you may not commonly hear in the precision ag discussion. However, this is the general term for satellite navigation systems that you likely hear quite often, such as GPS or GLONASS.

GPS and GLONASS are both satellite navigation systems specific to the country or region that developed and runs them (GPS is the U.S. satellite system and GLONASS is the Russian satellite system). Before discussing the specific systems, it’s important to understand the general concept behind them and how this relates to precision farming.

GNSS is the standard term used to refer to a group of navigational satellites providing signals for global positioning worldwide.

So how does GNSS calculate your position?

A GNSS receiver – such as the Ag Leader GPS 1500 – communicates with global positioning satellites to determine your receiver’s distance from the satellite. In order to accurately map your position, your GNSS receiver needs to communicate with at least three satellites through a process called “triangulation”. This process measures your distance to three known satellites, and your location can be mapped based on the intersection of the three points on earth.

Because you need at least three satellites to accurately map your position, having more satellites available to communicate with your receiver will make it easier to receive and maintain a strong signal. If you have strong, consistent satellite communication, you can map your fields with better accuracy and consistency. This means that as precision ag technologies progress, receivers will be capable of communication with multiple GNSS – not just GPS, but also GLONASS and possibly even other systems as they become available. As new technologies are developed that allow receivers to communicate with more than just GPS satellites, GNSS will become more widely used in the precision ag vocabulary to describe receivers that can communicate with multiple satellite systems.

When it comes to precision farming, satellite navigation systems are what enable growers to collect the site-specific information necessary for precision operations. By constantly communicating with GNSS satellites, your receiver always knows your location in a field. As you read in last week’s Lessons in Precision Ag, precision farming means managing inputs based on site-specific information, and GNSS allows for the accurate mapping of fields that is necessary to utilize today’s precision ag technologies.

Later this week, we will continue our GNSS discussion by discussing GPS, GLONASS and other developing systems, so be sure to check in again.

Tags: Ag Leader, Ag Leader Technology, agriculture, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, global precision ag, GLONASS, GNSS, GPS, precision agriculture, precision farming
Posted in Blog, Lessons in Precision Ag | No Comments »