Glossary
Azimuth
Direction around the horizon, measured in degrees. North is 0 degrees, east is 90 degrees, south is 180 degrees, and west is 270 degrees.
Constellation
A satellite navigation system, such as GPS or GLONASS.
dB-Hz
A common unit for satellite signal strength reported by GNSS receivers. Higher values usually mean the receiver is tracking the signal more strongly.
Elevation
How high a satellite appears above the horizon, measured in degrees. Zero degrees is the horizon, and 90 degrees is directly overhead.
Geopotential
The gravitational potential used with the terrestrial sea-level time reference. In this dashboard, it represents gravity together with the sea-level terrestrial reference convention.
GLONASS Russia’s global satellite navigation system.
GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) The general term for satellite navigation systems such as GPS and GLONASS.
GPS (Global Positioning System) The United States’ global satellite navigation system.
MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) An orbit between low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit, used by most navigation satellites.
Microsecond (μs)
One millionth of a second.
Nanosecond (ns)
One billionth of a second. Light travels about 30 centimeters in one nanosecond.
NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) On this site, NMEA refers to the standardized text messages through which the receiver reports time, position, and satellite data.
Position solution
The receiver's calculated position. Satellites marked as helping the position solution are being used in that calculation.
Satellite identifier
The label used by receiver data to identify one satellite within a constellation.