Navigation

The Origin of Navigation

• Navigation is derived from the Latin navis
(“ship”) and agere (“to drive”).
• Early mariners who embarked on voyages of
exploration gradually developed systematic
methods of observing and recording their
position, the distances and directions they
traveled, the currents of wind and water, and the
hazards and havens they encountered.
 What is Navigation?
• Navigation is the art of getting from one
place to another, safely and efficiently.
• Navigation is the art and science of
getting from point "A" to point "B" in the
least possible time without losing your
way.
• It is the process of reading, and
controlling the movement of a craft or
vehicle from one place to another.

• The first record of boats large enough to

carry goods for trade is around 3500
B.C. and from this, navigation comes in
the picture.
 Brief Description

A Brief description on the History & type of ships

that has been used by the sailors on different time
periods.
These first navigation stayed close to
shore and navigated by sight of landmarks
or land characteristics that they could see.
Usually they traveled by day and sought a
calm harbor or anchorage at night. They
did not have charts but lists of directions,
semilar to today's cruising guides.

When they did venture out of sight of land,

the navigator was able to determine his
latitude (north/south direction) by
observing the height of the sun during the
day and the North Star at night.
 History
• The word Navigation originates from the Sanskrit
Word Navigraha. In Hindi the Indians use the
word Navigaman.
• In the pre-modern history of human migration
and discovery of new lands by navigating the
oceans, a few peoples have excelled as
seafaring explorers.
• Prominent examples are the Phoenicians, the
ancient Greeks, the Persians, the Arabians, the
Norse, the Austronesian peoples including the
Malays, and the Polynesians and the
Micronesians of the Pacific Ocean.
 History
The first western civilization
known to have developed the
art of NAVIGATION at sea
where Phoenicians, about
4,000 years ago.

Phoenician sailor
accomplished navigation by
using primitive charts and
observations of the sun and
stars to determine directions.
 Sailor of Ancient Times
Egypsians were sailing as early as 2750 B.C. in
papyrus boats. Greek sailors were learning more
about India and England through wars and
trading. Arabian, Chinese, and other cultures
were also doing exploring and mapping before
the European discoveries began.
 Early Ship Building Techniques
• Ancient ship builders
used a technique
called Mediterranean
whole moulding.

• There were patterns

used to make shapes,
which were then cut
directly from the
timber.
Ships of Different Cultures
Ships from Ancient Culture

Its really thrilling, if we will

plan our journey in these
ships
 Sailors didn't even have good tools to tell where
they were going! Look at these old charts. They
were not very accurate. No wonder ships often
sailed off course!

These were made over hundreds of years by sailors

observing the land from the ship.
 Sailor used nature to help them determine their location.
With the correct tools, the sun, stars, and even animals
could be very useful.

Nature Environment
Used for Navigation

Animals Sun Other Stars

Birds Whales Bearing Dial Astrolabe North Star

Migration Habits Migration Habits Notched Stick Quadrant

Through this chart, we can see how sailors used the natural
world to develop tools and skills needed for navigating their
ships.
The red arrow is
pointing to the North
Star, which is also
known as Polaris.
Stars and other
constellations helped
sailors to figure out
their position
This is a Quadrant. A A sailor could also use
sailor would see the this astrolabe. We lined
North Star along one it up so the sun shone
edge, and where the through one hole onto
string fell would tell another, and the pointer
approximately the would show your
ship's latitude. latitude.
 90 degrees

So what is 0 degrees
latitude, and
why was it
important to
90 degrees
sailors? Lines of
latitude are The Equator is an imaginary circle
imaginary lines around the Earth halfway between
running east to the North and South Pole. It is
west on the marked by the blue arrow on the
Earth's surface picture. The latitude is zero degrees
on the Equator.
The Prime Meridian is marked on the map above.
The blue and red line is showing a latitude scale.
A Portuguese map maker was the first to draw
the latitude scale using the Prime Meridian.
Having latitude lines was a big help for sailors
because they could tell how far north or south
their ship was, but the tools they had were not
always accurate.
The next thing that navigators worked on was a way
to tell a ship's longitude. This would allow them to
tell their position east and west. (Remember that
latitude was to tell position north and south.)

North Pole
The red lines are
Equator
imaginary longitude lines
that go from pole. The
Prime Meridian is 0
degrees longitude
South Pole
• Meriners at this time also used
the cross-staff and the astrolabe
(c.1484 Martin Behaim) to
measure the angle above the
horizon of the sun and stars to
determine latitude.

• The forerunner of the much more

portable (and accurate) sextant,
the astrolabe was used to
measure the altitude of a sun or
star. Heavy and clumsy, it was
very difficult to use aboard a
rolling ship, however, when new
land was discovered and
astrolabe taken ashore, it was
valuable in fixing the approximate
latitude of the new discovery
Sextant, instrument for determining the
angle between the horizon and a celestial
body such as the Sun, the Moon, or a star,
used in celestial navigation to determine
latitude and longitude. The device
consists of an arc of a circle, marked off in
degrees, and a movable radial arm
pivoted at the centre of the circle. A
telescope, mounted rigidly to the
framework, is lined up with the horizon.
The radial arm, on which a mirror is
mounted, is moved until the star is
reflected into a half-silvered mirror in line
with the telescope and appears, through
the telescope, to coincide with the horizon.
The angular distance of the star above
the horizon is then read from the
graduated arc of the sextant. From this
angle and the exact time of day as SEXTANT
registered by a chronometer, the latitude
can be determined (within a few hundred
metres) by means of published tables.
• A major advance that made dead
reckoning much more accurate was the
invention of the chip log (c.1500-1600).
Essentially a crude speedometer, a light
line was knotted at regular intervals and
weighted to drag in the water.
• It was tossed overboard over the stern as
the pilot counted the knots that were let out
during a specific period of time. From this
he could determine the speed the vessel
was moving. Interestingly, the chip log has
long been replaced by equipment that is
more advanced but we still refer to miles
per hour on the water as knots.
• Using the sun and the stars, the navigator
knew his beginning and ending latitude-
now he could determine the distance he
had traveled to estimate his east/west
position
Sailors understood the
idea of longitude long
before they had a tool to
measure it. Finally, in
1764, John Harrison
created a very accurate
chronometer, and this
allowed navigators to
figure out longitude while
at sea
 The hourglass, also known as a sand timer,
sand glass, or sand clock, is a device
traditionally used for the measurement of time. It
consists of two glass bulbs resting one on top of
the other connected by a narrow opening. The
top bulb is filled with sand which flows through
the opening into the lower bulb at a given rate
dependent on the volume and size of the sand
and size and angle of the glass bulbs. The
hourglass can then be inverted and the sand will
again flow from bulb to bulb. Alternatives to
sand are used in some instances. Since the
hourglass was one of the few reliable methods
Hourglass of measuring time at sea, it has been
speculated that it was in use as far back as the
11th century, where it would have complimented
the magnetic compass as an aid to navigation.
 A compass is a
navigational
instrument that
shows directions
in a frame of
A simple dry magnetic
portable compass.
reference that is
stationary relative
to the surface of
the Earth.
A smartphone that can be
used as a compass
because of the
magnetometer inside.
• British physicist Robert Watson Watt
produced the first practical radar (radio
detection and ranging) system in 1935

• It is used to locate objects beyond the

range of vision by projecting radio
waves against them. Radar can
determine the presence and range of
an object, its position in space, its size
and shape, and its velocity and
direction of motion.

• In addition to its marine uses, it is also

used for controlling air traffic, detecting
weather patterns and tracking
spacecraft.
• The hyperbolic navigation system known as
Loran (Long Range Navigation) was
developed in the U.S. between 1940 and
1943. It uses pulsed radio transmissions from
master and slave stations that are received
onboard and recorded as small waves on the
screen of a cathode ray tube.
• The distance between the waves
corresponds to the difference in time between
the arrival of the signals from the two stations.
This difference is represented by a curve
(hyperbola). Another set of loran transmitters
repeats this process and position is
determined by the intersection by the two
curves called loran lines of position.
• Accuracy ranges between a few hundred
meters and a few kilometers. Used mainly by
US ships it is an expensive system with a
limited coverage area and will ultimately be
phased out in favor of newer, more accurate
navigation system called GPS.
• GPS (Global Positioning System)
initiated in 1973, is operated and
maintained by the U.S. Department of
Defense.

• This space-based radio navigation

system consists of 24 satellites and
provides accurate positioning to within
about 30 feet as well as velocity and time
worldwide in any weather condition

• GPS works the same way as Loran (time

difference between separate signals) but
the signals come from satellites.
Because you can receive GPS signals
using small, inexpensive equipment it is
being used in many new applications.