Professor Madry, one of the world's leading experts in the field of the practical applications of satellites and space technologies, provides in a condensed form, a quick yet comprehensive overview of all aspects of satellite navigation.
This new edition concisely addresses the latest breakthrough technologies, the various national systems, the many applications, the regulatory issues, and the strategic implications of satellite navigation systems. The future directions of autonomous aircraft and the role drones play in satellite navigation networks are also evaluated.
Moreover, the industry's strengths and weaknesses are discussed, as well as reviews of all the various national systems now being deployed. The motivation behind the proliferation of these systems, in this book, evaluates the overall societal and ethical issues of these invisible yet pervasive parts of our modern digital world.
Scott Madry, Ph.D. is a specialist in remote sensing and GIS for regional environmental and cultural applications, including archaeology and disaster management. He was elected a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics in 2023. He is a professor emeritus of the International Space University in Strasbourg, France and is a research associate professor of archeology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been involved with the International Space University since 1987 and has taught in over 35 ISU summer programs around the world. He was on the resident ISU faculty in Strasbourg, France for three years and he was the Program Director for four of the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Programs, held in Adelaide, Australia. He is the founder and president of Informatics International, Inc. an international remote sensing and GIS consulting company located in Chapel Hill, NC. He specializes in natural and cultural resource management and disaster applications and received his Ph.D. in 1986 at UNC-CH, and worked at the Institute for Technology Development, Space Remote Sensing Center at NASA for 3 years, and then taught at Rutgers University for 9 years before teaching at ISU and moving back to UNC. His research includes remote sensing, GIS and GPS applications and he has done work in North America, Africa, and Europe. He is the author of 11 books and over 50 peer-reviewed articles and papers. He was the co-editor of the 1,200 page, two-volume Manual of Satellite Applications for Springer Press in 2012 and the 1,300 page, two-volume Handbook of Small Satellites in 2020. He has given over 200 short courses and educational programs in 30 countries around the world on six continents and is very involved in Open Source GIS. He is an advanced disaster instructor with the American Red Cross, and has deployed to multiple disasters with them, mostly as an Emergency Operations Center liaison, but has worked in several other capacities. He is also active with the GISCorps in providing remote data analysis in disasters, and he was awarded, along with other GISCorps volunteers, the 2012 President's Volunteer Service Award for 2012 by President Barack Obama for his work in applying space technologies to disaster management.