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New Mexico Is Stretching, GPS Reveals

Posted by Soulskill on from the too-many-tacos dept.

Velcroman1 writes "New Mexico's borders are gradually gaining girth, according to the Albuquerque Journal. It's not much, and it's not happening very fast — the state is getting about an inch wider every 40 years — but the state is unquestionably expanding, according to University of Colorado geophysicist Henry Berglund and his colleagues. Using a collection of 25 extra-precise GPS receivers planted across New Mexico and Colorado, Berglund determined that the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe are creeping away from each other. The rate of change seems ever so slow to the untrained ear, described as approximately 1.2 'nanostrains' per year."

4 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. GPS Accuracy by Proudrooster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Fellow Slashdotters... this is a little off topic, but is there any way to get accuracy out of GPS? I can barely get plus/minus 12 feet of accuracy out of my GPS in the best conditions. How are they able to determine sub-inch accuracy? This sounds impossible, even with "25 extra-precise GPS receivers" as stated in the article. I just don't believe it is possible to measure to this level of accuracy with GPS. Someone please prove me wrong and school me how to build one with this accuracy for my autonomous lawn bot :)

    1. Re:GPS Accuracy by BitterOak · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They probably use techniques like differential GPS to increase their accuracy.

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    2. Re:GPS Accuracy by dido · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Differential GPS gets accuracy to up to 10 cm, which is just above 4 inches I think. It seems that it is possible to obtain even sub-millimeter accuracy from GPS, although I gather the techniques used aren't real-time, and as such unsuitable for mobile robotics. :( They work well enough for surveying though.

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  2. Re:There go my plans by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Perhaps I'm taking this too literally...

    I'm not sure New Mexico can get any wider--it's borders are set along latitude and longitude lines. So it's more likely that Albuquerque will eventually end up in Arizona and Santa Fe will end up in Texas.