Flashcards: Navigation

Clairaut's theorem is a general mathematical law applying to spheroids of revolution.

A geodetic datum or geodetic system is a coordinate system, and a set of reference points, used to locate places on the Earth (or similar objects).

A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation, otherwise known as a landmark.

In physics, a frame of reference (or reference frame) consists of an abstract coordinate system and the set of physical reference points that uniquely fix (locate and orient) the coordinate system and standardize measurements.

A pilot, also referred to as "Marine Pilot" or "Maritime Pilot" is a mariner who manoeuvres ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths.

A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions.

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is (subject to the caveats explained below) defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.

Terrain Contour Matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles.

In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from Latin ephemeris, "diary", from Greek: ἐφημερίς, ephēmeris, "diary, journal") gives the positions of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky at a given time or times.

A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances.

A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning.

A star chart or star map is a map of the night sky.

In navigation, an electric beacon is a kind of beacon, a device which marks a fixed location and allows direction finding equipment to find relative bearing, the direction to the beacon.

Navtex (Navigational Telex) is an international automated medium frequency direct-printing service for delivery of navigational and meteorological warnings and forecasts, as well as urgent maritime safety information to ships.

A logbook (a ship's logs or simply log) is a record of important events in the management, operation, and navigation of a ship.

In navigation bearing may refer, depending on the context, to any of: (A) the direction or course of motion itself; (B) the direction of a distant object relative to the current course (or the "change" in course that would be needed to get to that distant object); or (C), the angle away from North of a distant point as observed at the current point.

A marker beacon is a particular type of VHF radio beacon used in aviation, usually in conjunction with an instrument landing system (ILS), to give pilots a means to determine position along an established route to a destination such as a runway.

Expedition Atlantis is the name given to the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean made by five Argentines in 1984, leaving from the port of Tenerife in the Canary Islands and 52 days later arriving in La Guaira, Venezuela.

The Electro Gyro-Cator was claimed to be the world's first automated commercially available automotive navigation system.

A tide-predicting machine was a special-purpose mechanical analog computer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, constructed and set up to predict the ebb and flow of sea tides and the irregular variations in their heights – which change in mixtures of rhythms, that never (in the aggregate) repeat themselves exactly.

A hydrographic office is an organization which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information.

Resection is a method for determining an unknown position (position finding) measuring angles with respect to known positions.

Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites broadcast microwave signals to enable GPS receivers on or near the Earth's surface to determine location, velocity, and time.

A Traffic Separation Scheme or TSS is a traffic-management route-system ruled by the International Maritime Organization or IMO.

The Northern Sea Route (Russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, Severnyy morskoy put, shortened to Севморпуть, Sevmorput) is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Novaya Zemlya and specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait.

Some types of radar fixes include the relatively self-explanatory methods of "range and bearing to a single object," "two or more bearings," "tangent bearings," and "two or more ranges.

A rhumbline network, or more properly a windrose network, is a navigational aid drawn on portolan charts.