The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a complex technology, but the principles behind it can be understood without entering too much into the technical detail. One excellent tutorial on GPS that does just that can be found here: http://www.trimble.com/gps/. Another, more technical, overview can be found at the University of Texas website here: http://www.csr.utexas.edu/texas_pwv/midterm/gabor/gps.html
GPS is a global radio-navigation system consisting of a constellation of 24 satellites and their control segments or ground stations. It was developed by the US Department of Defense to provide a consistent and precise method of navigation. The Navigation System with Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) GPS was conceived as a ranging system from known satellite positions in space to unknown land, sea, air and space positions.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a rich source of mathematical problems. You will find at this address http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html a well organized GPS home page developed by Peter Dana, The Geographer's Craft Project, Department of Geography, The University of Colorado at Boulder. Other interesting information can be found are http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/ and http://www.unavco.org/edu_outreach/data.html
A great introduction to the mathematical problems of GPS is the book by B. Hofmann-Wellenhof, H. Lichtenegger, and J. Collins, GPS - Theory and Practice, 5th revised edition, Springer Wien New York, 2001, 2001, ISBN 3-211-82534-2.
A non-technical article on GPS is The Global Positioning System in the February 1996 issue of Scientific American, pp. 44-50.
Official US Government GPS website
Wikipedia - Global Positioning System and GPS tracking
GPS World - magazine for instry professionals
Mechanic Schools in United States Naval Observatory GPS Operations
US Coast Guard Navigation Center
Federal Aviation Administration Navigation Services
The Navstar Global Positioning System
An Introduction to the Global Positioning System and Some Geological Applications by T. H. Dixon (PDF)
Sensing Climate Change Using the Global Positioning System by Lester L. Yuan, Richard A. Anthes, Randolph H. Ware, Christian Rocken, William D. Bonner, Michael G. Bevis, Steven Businger. By subscription.
Global plate velocities from the Global Positioning System by KM Larson, JT Freymueller, S Philipsen (PDF)
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