Navigation & GPS main content.

Navigation in Antarctica Today: The Global Positioning System

Part of the Antarctica: The Farthest Place Close to Home Curriculum Collection.

Before satellite imagery, scientists navigated by matching up geologic formations with those shown in aerial photographs—a tough task in Antarctica, where there aren't many visible features.

Article The Movement of Ice Sheets More than any other, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has the greatest potential to raise sea levels all over the world. Learn how scientists... Article Using GPS to Study ice and Geology in Antarctica With most of its rocks buried and completely unknown, Antarctica is the last continental frontier. Go with Finn under the ice to... Article Global Positioning System The compass is great navigation tool—unless you're in Antarctica, where the magnetic pull of the nearby South Pole is so strong you... Educator Materials Locating a Point The full force of the Antarctic winter is just days away, and you're deep into your research on a fallen meteorite. How can you mark...