Editing Waypoint (section)

==={{Anchor|Waypoints and GPS}} With GPS===
GPS systems are increasingly used to create and use waypoints in navigation of all kinds.<ref>[https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7Bfb246bf0-0546-11dc-cded-000000000000%7D What is a Waypoint?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202025719/https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7Bfb246bf0-0546-11dc-cded-000000000000%7D |date=2015-02-02 }} [[Garmin]]. Retrieved 11 March 2015.</ref> A typical GPS receiver can locate a waypoint with an accuracy of three meters or better when used with land-based assisting technologies such as the [[Wide Area Augmentation System]] (WAAS). Waypoints can also be marked on a computer mapping program and uploaded to the GPS receiver, marked on the receiver's own internal [[map]], or entered manually on the device as a pair of coordinates.

If the GPS receiver has track-logging capabilities, one can also define waypoints after the fact from where one has been. For example, marine GPS receivers often have a "man overboard" function, which instantly creates a waypoint in the receiver for the boat's position when enabled and then begins displaying the distance and course back to that position.

In GPS navigation, a "route" is usually defined as a series of two or more waypoints. To follow such a route, the GPS user navigates to the nearest waypoint, then to the next one in turn until the destination is reached. Most receivers have the ability to compute a [[great circle route]] towards a waypoint, enabling them to find the shortest route even over long distances, although waypoints are often so closely spaced that this is not a factor.

Many GPS receivers, both military and civilian, now offer integrated [[cartography|cartographic]] [[database]]s (also known as ''base maps''), allowing users to locate a point on a map and define it as a waypoint. Some GPS systems intended for automobile navigation can generate a suggested driving route between two waypoints, based on the cartographic database. As one drives along the route, the system indicates the driver's current location and gives advance notice of upcoming turns. The best of these systems can take into account traffic restrictions such as [[one-way street]]s and intersections where left or right turns are prohibited when computing the suggested driving route.

Most GPS receivers allow the user to assign a name to each waypoint. Many models also let the user select a symbol or [[icon (computing)|icon]] to identify the waypoint on a graphical map display from a built-in library of icons. These include standard map symbols for marine navigation aids such as buoys, [[marina]]s and anchorages, as well as land-based [[landmark]]s such as [[church (building)|church]]es, [[bridge]]s, shopping centers, [[park]]s and [[tunnel]]s.

GPS receivers used in air navigation have databases which contain named waypoints, radio navigation aids, airports and heliports. These references comprise the National Airspace System's method of allowing air traffic to select routes that yield efficient point-to-point navigation. Waypoints are often used in the termination phase of a flight to its destination airport. Some GPS receivers are integrated into autopilot or flight management systems, to aid the pilot in control of an aircraft. Waypoints may be found on Aeronautical Charts known as Instrument Flight Rules Enroute Low Altitude Charts, Terminal Arrival Procedures or Sectional Charts.