TRAVERSE NAVIGATION IN POLAR REGIONS

Abstract

Traverse navigation in high latitudes is an art, subject to peculiarities of individual areas and to unique characteristics of polar regions in general. The navigator must think in terms of specialized navigation techniques and equipment, developed through research on the effects of astronomic, cartographic, and magnetic conditions. Season of operation, extremes of altitude and temperature, directive force of the earth's rotation, and surface irregularities all strike at the heart of normal navigational procedures in polar regions. Course plotting by rhumb lines necessitates constant compensation for the rapid convergence of meridians. A combination of dead reckoning and celestial navigation provides the basis for traverse navigation. For requirements that demand accurate positions in polar regions, a refined method has been developed: namely, the Fowler-Winn Method of Final Refinement of Position.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1962
Accession Number
AD0285221

Entities

People

  • George W. Fowler

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Reconnaissance
  • Celestial Navigation
  • Dead Reckoning
  • Detectors
  • Government Procurement
  • Grids
  • High Latitudes
  • Latitude
  • Longitude
  • Navigation
  • Navigational Equipment
  • Navigators
  • Observation
  • Polar Regions
  • Task Forces
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Geodesy
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.