Wolmer’s Girls GIS Club Hosts GNSS Treasure Hunt to Increase Navigation Satellite Systems Awareness

The Wolmer’s Trust High School for Girls Geography Information Systems Club in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the National Spatial Management Division recently launched its first Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Treasure Hunt to increase students’ awareness of the tracking system.
GNSS is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. The system allows small electronic receivers to determine location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to within a few metres using time signals transmitted along a line-of-sight by radio from satellites.
Representatives from the National Works Agency (NWA) and the National Land Agency (NLA) illustrated to the students the use of the system, which has widespread utility. The NWA uses the system to aid in its road system, identifying roads so as to facilitate rehabilitation and construction whereas the NLA utilize the system to facilitate the production of maps, land titles on an accurate and timely basis. It also assists with cadastral mapping which deals with legal mapping for recording title to a property.
The Government of Jamaica recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GEOLAND Title Limited and Korea Cadastral Survey Corporation who made a proposal to the government to create a cadastral map of Jamaica which will indicate legal boundaries and the ownership of property.
Seven schools participated in the Treasure Hunt where they used GNSS hand held systems to locate points on the school property where clues where placed. St. Georges College emerged winners while Calabar and Bridgeport High Schools were placed second and third respectively. The other schools that participated were Kingston College, Camperdown and Wolmer’s Girls and Boys High School.
“I learnt a lot from participating in the hunt. I discovered how to find and set a point on the hand held GNSS and how to avoid objects that would block the satellite signals. The system is user friendly” Darrieux Gordon, sixth form student, Kingston College said.
The GNSS Treasure Hunt was launched on the compound of the Wolmer’s Trust High School for Girls on Friday, March 12.