Between the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, you’ll find the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The spread out landscape is filled with a plethora of year-round blooming wildflowers and lush forests. Rivers, streams, and waterfalls emerge along hiking routes that encompass a section of the Appalachian Trail. On top of Clingmans Dome that’s the highest peak and offers scenic views of mist-covered mountains is an observation tower.

In the Smoky Mountains, you may have noticed some black bears with GPS tracking technology around their necks. These are the bears used in a multi-year study to see how they’re getting human food.

Lauren Davis, Anchor for Local 8 News, had a conversation with park rangers regarding why they’re using the bears for tracking purposes.

While driving on Sevier County’s Bear Cub Way, Jennie Berger saw a mother bear with her two cubs. She also noticed a GPS tracking device around her neck.

Park rangers informed Local 8 News about the GPS tracking program and told them it was a 3-year study to monitor the bears year round. Bill Stiver who’s the Wildlife Biologist for Great Smoky Mountain National Park said, “I can come into my office, pull up data and see where they are. It’s like a video game.”

Stiver’s using the GPS tracking devices to figure out where outside the park the bears are getting the human food. He said human food is not a good thing for the bears since it creates more human-bear conflicts that are not good for the bears.

According to Stiver, it’s all about protecting both the people and the bears in the end.

Thirty bears, both males and females, are wearing a GPS monitor. These bears have already made contact with humans. Jessica Giacomini, a UT Masters student, said they are targeting the bears that are getting into dumpsters and campgrounds around the park.

She said that they’ve been really surprised with what they’ve seen and she’s amazed by how far the bears are traveling. Some male bears alone have traveled crazy amounts when they leave the park and look for females, she said.

Park rangers are reminding visitors to keep their food locked up so it doesn’t attract the bears to that area, like the bear that Jennie filmed. By attracting the bears to that area, it could end up in the bears’ death.

They’ll keep the GPS monitoring “necklaces” on the bears until the study is over next summer. After the study is complete, they’ll use all the data they collected from the tracking devices to ensure food is being locked up in the problem areas.

On August 21, 2017, you’ll be able to witness the first total solar eclipse in the past 99 years. It will span across the United States — coast to coast. This is the time to catch this amazing phenomenon since the next one won’t be until April 8, 2024, according to NASA.

In the entire country from Oregon to South Carolina over an hour and a half time period, 14 states will be in approximately two minutes of night-like darkness in the middle of the day, NASA says.

At 10:15 a.m. PDT, the eclipse will enter the U.S. off the Oregon coast. It will leave the U.S. shores South Carolina at around 2:50 p.m. EDT. And, everyone in North America is expected to witness at least a partial eclipse.

This “Great American Eclipse”, will block out the sunlight and stretch across the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina for 70 miles.

Tracking the Solar Eclipse

Oregon’s Portland State University will launch four high-altitude balloons this upcoming solar eclipse each with their own GPS tracking system attached to it and a 360-degree video camera.

The university said these balloons will allow people to go online and watch a live stream on Aug 21, as the moon’s shadow darkens a majority of Oregon.

NASA claims and funded one balloon as part of their larger live stream project involving 55 school and college teams throughout the United States.

The other three balloons are part of the PSU project.

The first of the balloons will travel up in the air 70,000 feet. The second balloon will reach as high as 100,000 feet and the third, 130,000 feet.

What is a total solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon’s disk appears to cover the sun’s disk completely in the sky. The moon orbits approximately around 239,000 miles from Earth which is the perfect distance to appear as though it’s the same size as the much-larger sun in the sky. But, it’s only once every 18 months that they line up. Each year 2 to 5 solar eclipses occur on average.

During this August 21 Solar Eclipse

Things to plan for and take into account include:

• Get to the path of totality (centerline) on August 21 to view this spectacular event instead of settling for just a partial eclipse view which most of North America will be able to see.
• Get ready for traffic jams. All over the United States, people will be gathering to the centerline to get a glimpse of this amazing and rare celestial event.
• Get your travel plans set up now. Campgrounds and hotels are going to fill up fast and many are already completely booked for that day.
• Keep an eye on the weather. If it’s supposed to be cloudy where you’re at, consider driving toward clearer skies.
• Protect your eyes. You shouldn’t look at the sun directly anyway, but before the eclipse and after it when the moon isn’t blocking the sun completely, you should wear some type of protective eyewear so you don’t damage your eyes. For people who’re watching the partial eclipse, you’ll need to wear glasses the whole time.

The eclipse will offer a limited opportunity to study certain areas of the sun that aren’t typically visible; however, the darkness won’t last for more than a few minute. When the moon wedges between the Earth and Sun and a straight line, the shadow will be cast. The Moon will obstruct the light rays of the sun making it quite possible for you to observe wisps of solar corona hot plasma.

US National Science Foundation’s scientists, the US National Center for Atmospheric Research and NASA are looking to understand the nature of coronal mass ejections and why the corona is hotter than the surface of the Sun.

You can check out this neat tool from Vox where you can punch in your zip code to see exactly when your area can view the eclipse.

Sewer line replacement is something most people don’t think about until the moment when they need it most. That means many jobs for your sewer line replacement business are often an emergency jobs.

It also means that there are numerous benefit GPS fleet tracking can offer your business, including these listed below.

Accurate Appointment Windows

Not only will this free up your phone lines so you’re not dealing with anxious customers at all hours of the day, but it will also be a huge weight off the minds of your customers who are eager to receive your services.

Gone are the days when you had to tell your customers you would get to them at some point during the day. Now you can offer accurate appointment windows that let them know when they need to be home to receive you and how long they’ll need to wait before your arrival to replace their damaged sewer lines.

Verification for Billing

GPS provides very accurate verification that you were on a given jobsite and how long you were there. That way if disputes arise over the accuracy of your billing, you have GPS evidence of the amount of time your people spent on a specific jobsite.

Schedule More Efficient Routes

Efficiency is critical for sewer line replacement companies. The biggest way you can increase your revenue is by being more efficient at the tasks at hand. GPS routing can help you plan routes that will help you get from one jobsite to the next faster and without burning extra fuel in the process. This saves you money while helping you to make money faster at the same time. Your entire organization wins.

Keep Your Employees on Task

The other benefit of GPS tracking is that your employees understand they are being watched. This will help them stay on task and prevent them from straying from their prescribed routes during the day. The result is that you save a great deal of money by keeping your people motivated, avoiding unnecessary detours along the route, and keeping your customers satisfied thanks to timely appointment scheduling and sewer line replacements.

GPS fleet tracking for sewer line replacement companies is simply smart business allowing you, and your people, to work smarter, rather than harder. When this happens, your business is able to earn more money in the same number of hours day after day while satisfying a greater number of customers with billing accuracy, timely appointment scheduling, and prompt service when they need it most.

Do you own or operate a sewer line replacement business. Learn how your sewer line replacement company can benefit from GPS fleet tracking. Speak to one of our experts here at LiveViewGPS today. 1-888-544-0494