Gladys West
Gladys West is an American mathematician whose mathematical modeling of Earth’s shape and gravitational field contributed to the development of GPS.
Ralph H. Baer: Ralph H. Baer was an engineer and inventor whose work led to the first home video game console. Baer and West both worked at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, though in unrelated fields.
Geoid: The geoid is an equipotential surface of Earth’s gravity field that approximates global mean sea level. West modeled this irregular reference surface to improve estimates of Earth’s shape.
GPS: GPS is the U.S. satellite constellation and infrastructure that provides positioning, navigation, and timing signals. The system depends on accurate reference models of Earth’s shape and coordinate frame.
Sutherland, Virginia: Sutherland is an unincorporated community in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. West grew up in this rural community before pursuing education and a scientific career.
Franklin Chang-Díaz: Franklin Chang-Díaz is a Costa Rican-American physicist and former NASA astronaut. His career offers another example of a Black American scientist whose work became widely recognized later in life.
Satellite geodesy: Satellite geodesy uses satellite observations to measure Earth’s shape, gravity field, and motion. Satellite data supplied measurements that West’s computational models could incorporate.
World Geodetic System 1984: World Geodetic System 1984 is a global reference system defining Earth’s shape, gravity field, and coordinate frame. West’s geodetic modeling contributed to the research lineage behind this GPS-compatible global reference system.
Virginia State University: Virginia State University is a public historically Black university in Petersburg, Virginia. West earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics there.
Mathematical geodesy: Mathematical geodesy applies mathematics to measuring Earth’s shape, gravity, and orientation. This was the technical discipline at the center of West’s research career.
Gravity field: A gravity field describes the gravitational force and potential throughout a region of space. Variations in Earth’s gravity reveal departures from a simple spherical shape.