A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Data message A 1500 bit message included in the GPS signal which reports the satellite's location, clock corrections, and health. Included is rough information on the other satellites in the constellation
Datalogger Also called a data recorder. A handheld, lightweight data entry computer. It can be used to store additional data obtained by a GPS reciever.
Deflection of the vertical The angle between the normal to the ellipsoid and the normal to the Geoid (true plumbline). Since this angle has both a magnitude and a direction, it is usually resolved into two components: one in the meridian and the other perpendicular to it in the prime vertical.
Delay Lock The technique whereby the received code (generated by the satellite clock) is compared with the internal code (generated by the receiver clock) and the latter is shifted in time until the two codes match.
Delta pseudorange See reconstructed carrier phase
Differential positioning (DGPS) Determination of the relative coordinates of one or more receivers with respect to the position of a Receiver located at a known position (referred to as the Base, Monitor Reference station. Dynamic differential positioning is the real time application of the technique. In practice, most references to DGPS involve Dynamic DGPS which entails the real time correction of measurements made by each roving receiver with data received by radio transmission from a reference station. The corrections are usually transmitted in RTCM format. Static Differential GPS involves determining baseline vectors between pairs of receivers. For most DGPS, applications only the code measurements are considered and it is sometimes referred to as Code Differential. Although this application was initially confined to Navigation at sea, an increasing number of applications are "land based" such as GIS, Resource Management and Vehicle Location.
Differential processing (carrier phase) GPS measurements for Land Surveying are the digital values given to the carrier phase signal received by the Geotracer. The various differential processing methods use the carrier phase data to calculate a difference in the position of two or more receivers. The data used in the calculation must be recorded simultaneously. Various methods are used to calculate the integer ambiguity, but the final result is calculated by comparing various combinations of the phase data. These are called differences. All combinations have advantages during processing and typically all are used at some stage during static processing. The triple difference is useful in correcting cycle slips, the double difference is generally used to calculate the final result for both static and kinematic. Differential processing eliminates most of the errors found in single point positioning.

A single difference between receivers is the instantaneous arithmetic difference between the carrier phase measurement to satellite, measured by two receivers simultaneously.

A double difference is the instantaneous arithmetic difference between the single difference for one satellite and a single difference for another satellite. Normally, one satellite is chosen to act as a reference satellite and all double differences are derived by comparing the various single differences with those of reference satellite.

A triple difference is the difference between a double difference at one epoch of time and the same double difference at the previous epoch of time.

Digital Generally, information is expressed, stored and transmitted by either analog or digital means. In a digital form, this information is seen in a binary state as either a one or a zero, a plus or a minus. The computer uses digital technology for most actions.
Dilution of Precision (DOP) A description of the purely geometrical contribution to the uncertainty in a position fix. It is given by the expression DOP = SQRT TRACE (A A ) where A A is the matrix of data used to calculate the instantaneous position solution. A low number of DOP (2) is good, a high number (>7) is considered to be bad.

The DOP factor depends on the parameters of the position fix solution. Standard terms for the GPS application are:

GDOP: General (three dimensional coordinates plus clock offset errors in the solution)

PDOP: Position (three dimensional coordinates E,N Ht.)

HDOP: Horizontal (two dimensional coordinates E,N,Ht.)

VDOP: Vertical (height only Ht.)

TDOP: Time (clock offset only)

RDOP: Relative (normalized to 60 seconds and based on a change in geometry)

Distance root mean square (drms) The root-mean-square value of the distances from the true location point of the position fixes in a collection of measurements. As typically used in GPS positioning, 2 drms is the radius of a circle that contains at least 95 percent of all possible fixes that can be obtained with a system at any one place.
Distance To Go (DTG): Digital readout (selectable in miles, nautical miles or kilometers) displayed only when navigating to a waypoint. It simply indicates the remaining distance from your present position to the next waypoint.
Dithering The introduction of digital noise. This is the process the Department of Defense (DoD) uses to add inaccuracy to GPS signals to induce Selective Availability.
DME Distance Measuring Equipment
DOD Department of Defense
DOP See dilution of precision
Doppler shift The apparent change in frequency of a received signal due to movement of a satellite towards or away from a receiver. See reconstructed carrier phase
Doppler-aiding A signal processing strategy that uses a measured doppler shift to help the receiver smoothly track the GPS signal. Allows more precise velocity and position measurement.
DOT Department of Transportation
Double difference method A processing method used to determine the difference in phase of GPS observations. When the integer ambiguities have been fixed, it is the method used to give the best determination of baseline vector components.
drms See Distance Root Mean Squared.
Dry Nitrogen Filled: A special process in which a unit is sealed and filled with dry nitrogen to help prevent fogging and internal corrosion.
Dynamic positioning Determination of coordinates for a moving receiver, each set of coordinates being determined from a single data sample, and usually computed in real time. See also Kinematic Positioning. 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z