Essay - Electronic Navigation Systems are Continually Developing in Order to Provide...

Electronic Navigation Systems are continually developing in order to provide pilots and captains the ability to precisely navigate both ships and aircraft under even the most treacherous of conditions. Modern technological advances have changed the way naviga*****rs estimate time, location and distance to destination. Among the electronic navigational instruments used in contemporary society ***** radar devices including the DECCA and LORAN. GPS is also a commonly ***** electronic ***** system that has afforded pilots ***** ability to estimate distance and location with high precision. Electronic navigation has enabled ***** ***** aircraft to make *****s that are *****in a 90% or more *****ccuracy range. The primitive ********** utilized by early naviga*****rs would never approach the ***** of modern day systems. Both electronic navigation and instruments used historically for navigational purposes will be explored in greater detail below.

The history ***** navigation is varied. In times of old non-electronic systems were used to gauge location and distance. Celestial navigation was ***** ***** in the earliest times to help ship captains navigate. Up until the 20th century in fact, ***** term navigation was limited primarily to defining how ***** were guided across seas(Johansen, 1999) In contemporary society however electronic navigation now determines where a ship is located using radar and radio waves, via electronic instruments that interpret the directional properties of those waves (Johansen, 1999). Even more relevant, electronic navigation is being used ***** aircrafts and air control towers to ensure accurate and precision l*****ing, in inclement weather and under tight airport conditions.

Prior to the use ***** ***** navigation *****, charts were *****d ***** aid sailors traveling across l***** and sea. Charts ***** usually crafted from observations of the sun and/or stars; they took into consideration the distance of a foreign l*****nd based on the time it took to cover the *****a (Johansen, *****). The magnetic compass ***** later invented, further supporting navigati*****al causes. ***** addition to use of the compass, early navigators utilized ***** cross-staff and astrolabe, which were two devices that the ancient Greeks had ********** to "measure ***** altitudes of celestial bodies". Many ***** explorers ***** these devices with some success, although the end results were certainly less perfect than what *****y might be today. Most navigating ***** were able to estimate with fair accuracy their location and proximity to ***** at any point in ***** however ***** use of these simple materials.

Developments occurred in navigation during the 17th ***** when mapmaking and other developments were encouraged. Trigonometric calculations followed in the 19th century. Electronic ***** came about during the 20th *****, and entails the use of hyperbolic and satellite ***** that are used as principal navigational tools (Walls, 1999).

Hyperbolic systems include Decca and Loran, which are ***** to coordinate transmissions in between two or more stations; the signals form a hyperbol***** (Walls, 1999). Radio frequency is most commonly used for a variety of functions, and provides fast and efficient means to communicate location ***** time.

***** generally uses a 90-11-khz frequency range, and has a *****