The image below shows a track recorded by a GPS handheld device that was turned on and recording in a building. This illustrates what it would look like if you were to record GPS while standing still in a highly degraded GPS environment.
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GPS Drift and Environmental Factor Impact on GPS Accuracy for the fēnix 6 Series
GPS drift and environmental factors can impact the accuracy of locations and activities recorded by your Garmin watch. The information in this article will help you understand and reduce the impacts of GPS drift and environmental factors.
GPS Drift and Environmental Factors
What Is GPS Drift?
GPS drift, in the most practical sense, is the difference between your actual location and the location recorded by a GPS receiver. Since consumer-grade GPS receivers (such as the ones Garmin makes) are not 100% accurate, this can cause a difference between your actual location and your recorded location.
The GPS location accuracy of Garmin outdoor watches is around 3 meters (10 feet), 95% of the time. This means, at any given time, your watch will save your location within 3 meters of your actual location. If your watch is recording a GPS location every second and you do not pause an activity while standing still, your watch can record up to 180 meters (590 ft) in just 1 minute. When in an area with degraded GPS signals, your watch can record even more distance while stopped. The distance recorded while standing still is a representation of GPS Drift.
What Are Environmental Factors?
Any outside influence on the accuracy of your Garmin watch is an environmental factor and can cause degraded GPS signals. Environmental factors can range from using GPS downtown in a major city, to running in a big group of people, to recording a hike under a dense tree canopy. Using your watch to record GPS in those types of environments blocks the watch's ability to directly receive GPS signals. You can think of environmental factors as things that interrupt the signal path of a GPS satellite to your watch.
Examples of GPS Drift and Environmental Factors
Select from the headings below to see examples of how recording activities in different environments affects GPS.
This image shows a hiker that stopped for a short amount of time without pausing their activity. You can see that the watch continued to record GPS points while the person was stopped. This added some additional distance to their hiking activity.
In the example below, the watch was recording an activity in an area known as an "Urban Canyon". Urban Canyons cause degraded signal due to poor visibility of the horizon and GPS signal refraction caused by windows on taller buildings. When the signal is very degraded, the GPS accuracy of your watch goes down and the track of your activity may not show anywhere near the actual path you took.
Troubleshooting GPS Distance and Accuracy
Now that you know what causes activity distance to be incorrect, you can take steps to prevent inaccuracies. The information below will help you record more accurate tracks. Be aware that environmental factors cannot be completely overcome, and GPS drift is a natural occurrence.
When a watch initially displays that it is GPS ready, it means that the watch has picked up the minimum amount of satellites needed to get your location. Soaking GPS is the practice of allowing your watch additional time to communicate with satellites before you start moving for your activity. This practice allows for your watch to communicate to additional satellites, creating a stronger bond and helping to reduce the degradation of GPS signals.
Soaking GPS
- Select an activity.
- Wait for the GPS Ready message or GPS Indicator to turn green.
- Wait 2-5 minutes before you start the timer for your activity.