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Australia’s GPS Was Off Because the Whole Country Moved

Australia is moving. This isn't so surprising—all the continents are on the move, and Australia drifts 70 millimeters to the northeast every year. But that journey is starting to mess with systems that rely on pinpoint accuracy, specifically GPS. The country its currently updating its very longitude and latitude to correct a divergence with global…

Australia is moving. This isn't so surprising—all the continents are on the move, and Australia drifts 70 millimeters to the northeast every year. But that journey is starting to mess with systems that rely on pinpoint accuracy, specifically GPS.

The country its currently updating its very longitude and latitude to correct a divergence with global satellite navigation systems. Geoscience Australia, a part of the Australian government, is behind the project of getting the Geocentric Datum of Australia, the country's national coordinate system, up to code and bring it in line with international data.

via www.popularmechanics.com

Australia has moved 5 feet since the last update.

Which, among other things, actually has some implications for aviation.

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Responses to “Australia’s GPS Was Off Because the Whole Country Moved”

  1. Esli

    I really want my GPS-guided weapons to land where I tell them to….

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  2. Casey

    …So the idiot who was concerned that Guam might capsize was right that land masses move around then?…

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  3. Quartermaster

    Yeah, Casey. Plate Tectonics, and all that neat stuff.
    Makes me wonder if Oz has CORS stations. GPS dominates in control surveying and CORS stations, here in the US, are an important adjunct. I use them in every control survey I do.
    Soon, when we use GPS derived positions, we’ll be having to deal with the velocity of the land mass at the local point. Passive control is going away in less than 10 years.

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  4. timactual

    Wow. So the Earth really did move. That must have been tiring. I may want to vacation there.

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