Measuring Subsidence in the Future
The Evolution of GPS
In the GPS arena, a new Civil Frequency (L5) is in the planning stages for future satellites. Although not scheduled to be deployed for five years, this advancement will greatly increase the accuracy of GPS and decrease the time required for high-accuracy applications. High-accuracy positioning on moving platforms (auto, plane, boat) will be possible in real time, without the need to post process data through a computer to obtain solutions.
Also, the former Soviet Union and European Space Agencies will launch their own Global Satellite Navigation Systems which can be integrated with our current GPS system. As the number of space vehicles (satellites) increase, so to will the accuracies that can be obtained.
Evolving Technologies
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and INSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar): these and other interferometric imaging techniques will play a major role in future subsidence detection and tracking as sensors and science improve.
Pulsars and Quasars and Stars, oh my!
In the not-so-distant future, as technology is developed to efficiently and affordably manufacture powerful semiconductors, GPS will likely be replaced by a system which will use stars, Pulsars, Quasars and more as a signal source. This futuristic navigation system will be more precise than GPS and will be available on a galactic scale!
