GPSdatan

GPSdatan is a term used to describe a dataset and interchange format for Global Positioning System (GPS) and GNSS-derived data collected from receivers. It is not an official standard, but rather a descriptive label used in some academic projects, open datasets, and hobbyist tooling to denote GPS-related data that may include computed fixes, metadata, and sometimes raw observations. The concept emphasizes structured geographic and temporal information suitable for analysis and visualization.

Typical contents of a GPSdatan dataset include: timestamps, latitude, longitude, and altitude; velocity and heading; fix type (e.g., no fix, 2D, 3D); number of satellites in view; dilution of precision metrics (HDOP, VDOP, PDOP); and estimated positional accuracy. Advanced variants may also incorporate raw measurements such as pseudorange and carrier-phase data, receiver status, and signal strength indicators. Data are commonly stored in plain text formats such as CSV or JSON, or exported to GIS-friendly formats like GPX or GeoJSON. Real-time streams may be provided in NMEA-like streams, though GPSdatan emphasizes higher-level, analysis-friendly structures.

Applications for GPSdatan span mapping, route analysis, fleet and asset tracking, environmental monitoring, and academic research. It supports geospatial analysis, visualization, and integration with GIS tools, GIS databases, and data science workflows. Limitations arise from the non-standard nature of the term; implementations vary in field naming, unit conventions, and level of detail. Privacy and ethical considerations, including anonymization and consent, are important when sharing or publishing GPSdatan.

See also: GPS, GNSS, NMEA, GPX, GeoJSON, GIS data formats.