As parts of the western USA, particularly California, are reaching historic drought conditions, GPS tracking devices typically used to provide earthquake prediction data are providing some important measurements of the earth’s crust. As drought conditions worsen, the earth’s crust rises because of the lack of water in the soil which would normally weigh it down. By tracking the rises in the earth’s crust, scientists are able to measure and track the drought’s severity. In the west, the average rise of the earth’s crust over the last year is 4cm. However, the mountainous regions of California have seen rises as high as 15 cm this year.
Join TrackingTheWorld’s Newsletter List !
Recycling. Upcycling. Paper-free offices. In today’s world it seems as if we’re bombarded multiple options and continuous pressure to maintain both green businesses and homes. Here are a few ways that adding GPS tracking to your business can help you improve the overall environmental friendliness of your business.
Reduce Fuel Consumption: One of the most pressing environmental and fiscal issues with many business owners is monitoring and attempting to reduce the amount of fuel used, and its cost. GPS tracking software for business vehicles allows dispatchers to easily select the most efficient route of travel—saving fuel, time, and money.
In addition, installing GPS tracking on your business fleet can increase the miles per gallon you get with your vehicles, as GPS tracking software acts as a deterrent for employees tempted to exceed speed limits or drive recklessly.
Working Toward a Paper-Free Office: GPS tracking systems and GPS tracking software can help you reduce the amount of paper waste your business generates through automated reporting options, including work hours and mileage reporting.
After more than a month of following a snow leopard in Nepal, an adult “big cat” has successfully been fitted with a GPS tracking collar which will hopefully provide much insight into the roaming range behaviors, preferences and habitats of the elusive cats. In approximately the first two weeks of collecting data on the GPS collared leopard, it has been determined that the cat has roamed an area of more than 80 square kilometers.
We certainly understand the benefits of GPS tracking devices that are both compact and lightweight. But, do you think it’s possible to build a GPS tracker that’s small enough and light enough to be carried on the back of a bumble bee? Funded by a $500-thousand dollar grant from the Department of Agriculture, Oregon State University is working on the development of GPS trackers to track the movements of bumblebees with the goal of better understanding the dramatic decline of bee populations in recent years. The development of the GPS tracking device for bees will take 1-2 years. Without bee pollination, it is estimated that one-third of the world’s food supply would not exist. Read the full article about GPS tracking and bees.
As we have mentioned before, the GPS tracking industry continues to grow rapidly. We just found a new CBS report that profiles some of the ways individuals and businesses are using tracking devices and GPS tracking software to their advantage. Here are just a few mentioned in the article, plus some of our own:
- GPS tracking for teachers in school emergencies
- Devices which allow police officers to deploy a GPS tracking device that affixes to a fleeing vehicle to avoid dangerous pursuits.
- GPS trackers “built-in” to school uniforms
- GPS shoes
- Tracking devices for school buses
- GPS tracking for playing golf
- GPS trackers in the NFL
- Tracking technology for environmental causes
Read the entire CBS report on GPS tracking.
Get more GPS tracking news and offers when you subscribe to TTW!
According to a recent report, a North Carolina State University study recently monitored, via GPS tracking, the activity of six free-range cheetahs residing in a wildlife park in Africa to study if high speed is the only factor in the animals’ ability to successfully hunt prey. It turns out that, while cheetahs have the ability to outrun their prey, successful hunting is a savvy combination of speed, maneuvering skills, and positioning. The report compared the cheetahs’ behavior, monitored by GPS tracking collars, to the movements of a race car, or an initial burst of speed followed by stealthy movements and navigating turns.
Scientists may soon be using GPS tracking technology to monitor and track hurricanes, according to a recent report published in Radio Journal. By utilizing a GPS tracking receiver in hurricane hunter aircrafts to measure disruptions in the sea and then comparing the data to that which is received from GPS tracking satellites, scientists can determine the strength of a storm, including wind speeds accurate within 11 mph. Using GPS tracking systems to track hurricanes may also be more cost effective than dropsondes, tubes containing scientific measuring devices dropped from planes directly into hurricanes, which cost more than $700 dollars each. However, GPS tracking for hurricanes is only effective for hurricanes at sea, not those which have already made landfall, and is somewhat less accurate than current methods.
Here’s an interesting bit we found this morning: The Center for Conservation Biology, CCB, has been using “on board” GPS tracking devices to track the movements of bald eagles since 2007. What began as a large Department of Defense study and other smaller projects has culminated in 70 eagles fitted with GPS trackers. The devices have reported daily for the last six years to amass the world’s largest “dataset” for eagles–nearly one million locations! You can even follow the eagles via online GPS tracking software: http://www.wildlifetracking.org/index.shtml?project_id=349&dyn=1357316048
Source: Live Science, http://www.livescience.com/28066-eagle-gps.html
Maryland wildlife conservation officials are considering the use of fleet tracking via GPS tracking technology to track fishing boats with the goal of reducing maritime poaching (fishing for species not in season). “Better compliance” is how one official described the goal of a possible voluntary GPS tracking program.
The possible addition of a GPS tracker program is partially the result of officials uncovering illegal poaching of 13-tons of striped bass which caused disaster for the legal striped bass season.
Source: http://gpstrackinginfo.com/pilot-gps-tracking-program-may-be-launched-in-md/2509
Another Innovative Use for GPS Tracking
According to the BBC, a Scotland man is using GPS tracking technology to track his herd of cattle, after the request was made by a local agency managing wildlife preservation. The GPS tracking project’s goal is to make the cattle’s grazing area more suitable for birds and other wildlife, in an attempt to increase their populations.
Here at TrackingTheWorld, we enjoy reading about how people put GPS tracker devices and GPS tracking software to use for their businesses and livelihoods. But one question remains…is this considered fleet tracking?
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-15257849
