Satellite communications specialist Globalstar said today that it will extend its data services throughout Europe and North Africa.

Globalstar (Milpitas, Calif.) will offer one-way data services to customers in the regions and the North Atlantic through a European gateway in France. Combined with gateway in Turkey, Globalstar said its coverage area will more than double.

The data service has been available in the U.S. and Canada since 2003.

The low-cost, one-way data service is widely used to track rail cars, container ships and other mobile assets. It uses GPS or other location-based software to track vehicles.

Satellite tracking of birds and animals typically uses a tiny radio transmitter attached to the animal, bird or fish. Information collected from the animal uses a ARGOs transponder, piggybacked on a NOAA weather satellite. Currently 6 NOAA satellites are in service with Argos instruments) on polar, sun-synchronous, circular orbits at 850 km altitude, providing full global coverage.

Argo floats are robotically programmed to record and transmit data, are uniquely positioned to provide important information about climate and weather phenomena. Other applications of Argo information include: ocean heat storage and climate change; ocean salinity changes due to rainfall; ocean-driven events such as El Ni o; impacts of ocean temperature on fisheries and regional ecosystems.

The US Army uses the Transportation Coordinator’s Automated Information for Movements System II (TC-AIMS II), built around a Sybase database that runs on a Windows server. Mobile units sent to the Gulf region each have a 65-lb. case containing a ruggedized laptop PC, wireless bar code and radio frequency identification readers, a printer and other peripheral devices. The equipment can be stationed at roadsides or intersections and used to scan vehicles in army columns and supply convoys as they approach.

More than $40 billion a year is said to be lost to the theft of cargo in transit that can include hijacking of entire fleets of rail cars and road trailers. Railcars on local spurs and sidelines used for staging or storage generally receive no real-time tracking.

Combining both GPS with satellite communications, it’s now possible to track assets worldwide. While the federal government and other organizations have been slow to mandate GPS-based tracking solutions to enhance shipping security, industry suppliers offer a range of new satellite-based tracking technologies.

Seattle lets you track your bus in real time with an active map application. Portland’s Transit Tracker is one of several ITS applications using Automatic Vehicle Location, Electronic Fare Payment, and Traveler Information systems.

Orbital Sciences Corp and their Transportation Management Systems division was selected by TriMet to provide an onboard Automated Stop Annunciation (ASA) system for its fleet of transit buses. The OrbTrac system uses a variety of real time wireless methods to send information from the bus or truck to the Command Center, including private mobile radio and cellular networks.

Orbital will equip TriMet’s entire fleet of 639 fixed route buses with its ASA system, beginning with an initial deployment of 282 vehicles that will be completed by July 2006. The contract is valued at approximately $3 million.

Seattle’s Talking Signs uses a system of infrared transmitters and receivers that announce directions and locations for the sight-impaired who can’t read signs. The messages are spoken by a Talking Signs receiver which is held in your hand.

The Locarta Vehicle Tracking Solution knows which vehicle is closest to a new order/customer while out on other calls.

Using GPS for People Tracking is getting cheaper and more practical. Wherify’s new GPS Locator Phone (left) offers parents, family members and business people, real-time location services, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The slim, small and lightweight GPS Locator can fit almost anywhere from a backpack to a purse to a coat pocket to the family car.

Use the Internet or any phone to quickly identify the location of the device within feet, in about a minute. In the event of an emergency use the 911-response feature and local police will be dispatched. It uses the same technology as the Wherify GPS Locator for Kids (below). The wrist-watch device costs $199 in their “back to school” sale. Wannado City issues RFID wristbands to all visitors of its theme park, according to Texas Instruments, the maker of the wristbands.

Mobile Crossing has a Bluetooth GPS unit, as does Dell, that you can toss in your purse or backpack. It might work with the new MDA III (a PocketPC with built-in WiFi). Pop in a Flarion CompactFlash card and you’re good to go.

Tracking Individuals is easiest using cellular technology and E-911. MobileLocate, a UK value added provider, offers a tracking service for adults. You can see a person’s location via a web page, have that information sent via SMS to a specific phone, and send SMS messages to a group of people. It costs about $2/month.

Other location-based applications and wireless tracking applications include BlogMapper, Geourl, GeoNotes, Active Campus, Trepia, GPS Wait and Wireless Athens Projects.

Here’s a great list of innovative mobile projects

Related stories on Daily Wireless include:

• Tracking via WiFi and Cell
• Wireless Transportation News
• Streetcar Ads
• WiFi Pedicabs
• Internet Rickshaw
• Wireless Traffic Gauge
• Location Mapping
• Quarterscope Location Engine
• Ekahau Maps Clients
• Location Services Hit the Street
• Multiplayer Wireless Games
• City Cloud Applications
• Ubiquitous Computing
• Streaming Local Content
• GPS Narrative Archaeology
• Mapping Oral History
• Poem Spots
• Geocoding the Wiki
• Wireless Museums
• Wireless Walking Tours
• Electric Bike Tours
• Mapping to Go Projects
• My Pal Mickey
• Cellular Walking Directions
• Ekahau + ESRI
• Linkspoint GPS + Symbol
• MapInfo’s Hotspot Services
• MapInfo’s Open LS
• ATT + Microsoft + Maps
• Location without GPS
• Location By Triangulation – Not
• Open GIS Magazine
• The Un-walled Garden
• Tracking Individuals
• Tracking Bryon
• GPS+TV=Location
• Location, Location, Location

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Posted by Sam Churchill on Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 at 2:59 am.