Accuracy of WAAS-enabled GPS for the determination of position and speed over ground

The Global Positioning System (GPS) offers many advantages over conventional methods for the determination of subject speed during biomechanical studies. Recent advances in GPS technology, in particular the implementation of the Wide-Angle Augmentation System and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (WAAS/EGNOS), mean that small, highly portable units are available offering the potential of superior accuracy in the determination of both position and speed. This study set out to examine the accuracy of a WAAS-enabled GPS unit for the determination of position and speed. Comparison with the new and published data showed significant enhancements in both position and speed accuracy over a non-WAAS system. Position data collected during straight line cycling showed significantly lower sample-to-sample variation (mean absolute deviation from straight line 0.11 vs. 0.78 m) and greater repeatability from trial to trial (mean absolute deviation from actual path 0.37 vs. 4.8 m) for the WAAS-enabled unit compared to the non-WAAS unit. The speed determined by the WAAS-enabled GPS receiver during cycling in a straight line was within 0.2 ms−1 of the actual speed measured for 57% of the values with 82% lying within 0.4 m s−1, however, the data tended towards underestimation of speed during circle cycling, with 65% of values within 0.2 m s−1 and 87% within 0.4 m s−1 of the actual value. Local dGPS and dual frequency techniques are more accurate still, however, traditional differential GPS (dGPS), employing FM radio transmission of correction data to a separate receiver, now offers no advantage over WAAS and appears redundant.