Data & technology for sustainability

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

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Definition

A Global Navigation Satellite System is any satellite constellation that provides global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services by transmitting ranging and timing signals that receivers use to determine location. Four global systems are currently operational — GPS (United States), Galileo (European Union), GLONASS (Russia), and BeiDou (China) — supplemented by regional systems and satellite-based augmentation systems.

References

EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)What is GNSS (any satellite constellation providing global PNT services; Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou; performance criteria: accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability)

definition and systems

Overview

What it means

GNSS performance is judged on accuracy, integrity, continuity, and availability. For sustainability applications it is the positioning backbone: plot-level geolocation for deforestation-free supply chains, precision agriculture, emissions-efficient routing, disaster response, and environmental monitoring all depend on it.

How it is used

Regulators (for example under the EU Deforestation Regulation) require geolocation coordinates of production plots, typically captured with GNSS receivers; logistics, agriculture, and conservation integrate GNSS with GIS for mapping and verification.

Why it matters

Traceability commitments are only as good as their coordinates; GNSS is what makes "where" verifiable in sustainability claims. **Note:** 1231 Global Positioning System (GPS) merges into this entry as the US member of the GNSS family.