EGNOS was present at the course “Taking samples in the natural environment (2018)”, organized by the School of Security and Emergencies of the Government of Navarre with the collaboration of the Technical Unit of the Environmental Spanish Prosecution’s Office. This training action was provided to a group of agents of the environmental units of different Spanish security forces. The global objective of the course was to update and unify the procedures for collecting natural samples for law enforcement investigations. The topics covered in the different sessions went from basic techniques and methodologies for ground and water sampling to computer tools for visual analysis through thematic cartography and photogrammetry.
In this context, the acquisition of positioning measurements is of great relevance, as the samples taken need to be georeferenced for both reporting and visualization. For this purpose, the more accurate location data the better, so EGNOS can play its role augmenting GPS. For this reason, as part of the course, the attendants received a training session, both theoretical and practical, on EGNOS and its benefits. In line with the course’s aim, the EGNOS session was specifically dedicated to the use of EGNOS in field campaigns, in order to optimize the acquisition of location measurements. During the theoretical part, EGNOS architecture, services and capabilities were introduced. Afterwards, specific EGNOS performance data and use cases related to field measurements were presented, showing the usefulness of EGNOS in that kind of situations.
The practical part consisted on explaining how to configure EGNOS in professional mapping and surveying handheld devices along with an in-situ demonstration with specific equipment. The attendants could activate and configure EGNOS in their own positioning devices, which they usually employ at work. In this way, they could check that their devices can successfully lock to EGNOS geostationary satellites and apply the corresponding corrections to the GPS signals, improving the accuracy of their location measurements at no cost. In general, the feedback from the law enforcement agents trained in EGNOS was very positive, as they were glad to know that in such an easy way they could enhance both the management and results of their field campaigns.