Global Navigation Satellite System commissioned

The Minister for Science and Research, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, has opened a new, revolutionary, robotic calibration facility for Australia’s global positioning capability.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) robotic calibration facility, which is part of the AuScope Australian Geophysical Observing System (AGOS), will significantly increase the accuracy, quality and consistency of global positioning systems for the Australian public. It is one of only three in the world and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.

The system will provide valuable economic benefits through positioning applications for resource exploration and mining, transport systems, the construction industry and land survey activities as well as agricultural and environmental monitoring and management.

Scientists will be able to determine changes in the surface of the Australian continent with submillimetre accuracy, providing significant benefit for Earth, geospatial and climate-change sciences. In the longer term, the system also will benefit the wider community through increased accuracy in areas such as handheld devices and smartphones.

The Robotic Calibration Antennae is an exciting component of the AGOS, which received $23 million from the Education Investment Fund (EIF). AGOS builds on the $43.3 million investment to establish AuScope under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (NCRIS).