GPS Testing Service
The Global Positioning System (GPS) Test Facility performs a variety of testing using the GPS instrumentation Suite (GPSIS) and specialized data collection, data reduction and analysis tools. The GPS Test Facility also supports differentially corrected GPS data providing position accuracies in the sub-meter range, as well as producing truth data during tests.
U.S. Army Electronic Proving Ground (USAEPG) is the sole emergency beacon certification facility in the United States; it is the only certification facility in the Western Hemisphere. Cosmicheskaya Sistyema Poiska Avariynich Sudov – Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (COSPAS-SARSAT) is an international, humanitarian satellite-based search and rescue system.
Capabilities
GPSIS provides flexibility in testing receivers by providing operational control of dynamic and repeatable scenarios in a low-cost laboratory environment.
80,000 acres of test range, allowing personnel to conduct testing in a variety of real-world environments, including desert, canyon and mountainous terrain, with or without foliage.
Expertise
With over 20 years of GPS test experience, USAEPG is well known and respected in the GPS test community.
Members of the GPS Wing’s GPS Test Center of Excellence, Satellite Simulator Control Working, Joint Test Agency Working Group and Army Integrated Product Team.
Value
From the Warfighter/Soldier perspective, the GPS Test Facility is able to test GPS receivers in various operational environments that allows the customer an early look at how well their receivers are functioning. By getting this early look, anomalies can be addressed and fixed prior to fielding, providing the Warfighter with the best possible equipment to accomplish their mission.
Simplified Summary
The GPS Test Facility runs different tests on GPS systems. They use special tools called the GPSIS to collect and study testing data. This facility can also make GPS tracking much more accurate—down to less than three feet. They use this super-accurate tracking to find the exact, true location of equipment during a test.