What is WAAS?
"WAAS" stands for Wide Area Augmentation System. The system is based off of satellites and ground stations that provide GPS signal offset corrections, which give the GPS user far better accuracy. In fact the accuracy is rated at 3 meters, about 5 times better than regular GPS. WAAS is becoming more and more standard on newer GPS models, which means, mariners, have to buy no additional equipment when purchasing a GPS.
WAAS has come into effect because of the requirement set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to have more precise positioning information available to aircraft.
There are about 25 different WAAS ground reference stations across the United States that are constantly compensating information from GPS satellites and resending it to receiving units. It's accurate and affordable- find out how you can upgrade to a WAAS capable GPS today.
For more information and a live demonstration of the WAAS system provided by the FAA, visit: http://gps.faa.com/Programs/WAAS/waas.htm |
