Essentially, a MWD operator measures the trajectory of the hole as it is drilled (for example, data updates arrive and are processed every few seconds or faster). This information is then used to drill in a pre-planned direction into the formation which contains the oil, gas, water or condensate. Additional measurements can also be taken of natural gamma ray emissions from the rock; this helps broadly to determine what type of rock formation is being drilled, which in turn helps confirm the real-time location of the wellbore in relation to the presence of different types of known formations (by comparison with existing seismic data).