The accuracy with which acceleration can be determined from global position
ing system (GPS) data has been investigated. This has been done to evaluate
the possibility of using the GPS-derived acceleration as an attitude refer
ence or in drop-sphere soundings of the upper atmosphere. The accuracy of t
he GPS acceleration signal has been investigated in two ways. One way has b
een to mathematically determine the acceleration error levels induced by re
ceiver noise and by selective availability. The other way has been to use a
ctual receiver data for receivers with known accelerations. Experimental ac
celeration accuracy of 0.009 g has been obtained at a 0.2 Hz bandwidth. The
predicted achievable accuracy at a 1.6-Hz bandwidth is 0.03 g.