On December 31 st 2016, the offset was increased to 18 seconds:īefore the 2016 leap second: GPS-UTC was 17 (GPS ahead of UTC by 17 seconds)Īfter the 2016 leap second: GPS-UTC became 18 (GPS ahead of UTC by 18 seconds) In order to allow accurate UTC time to be determined from GPS the GPS system transmits the number of leap seconds difference between the two times. The GPS system uses GPS time, which does not include these leap seconds. When required, leap seconds are applied either on December 31 st or June 30 th. To keep UTC time synchronised to the Earth’s rotation, additional seconds can be added or removed to compensate for slight variations in the rotation rate of the Earth and other factors. The global time standard used is called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), all national time standards around the world are based on this UTC time with the appropriate offset for their time zone.
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