Global Positing System Faces Solar Threats

April 5, 2007: Navigating planes, cars, banking transfers and even military operations may be a more little difficult after a solar eruption in December 2006 disrupted the Global Positioning System.

According to scientists at Cornell University, the solar eruption occurred on the 6th December 2006 and may have left its mark on GPS receivers and communication systems that rely on the international satellite.

Researchers are now anticipating more severe consequences as a result of the next solar maximum – an aspect of the 12 year solar cycle. Some GPS readers may have already lost the ability to determine their location while others may have experienced a reduction in accuracy.

Solar radio bursts come as a result a solar flare injecting high=energy electrons into the solar upper atmosphere – radio waves can then hit Earth, acting as noise over frequencies used by GPS and navigational systems.

Researches at Cornell University used specially designed receivers as sensitive space weather monitors. They were then able to take their first measurements on the actual effect of solar radio bursts on GPS receivers.

The findings were announced at the first Space Weather Enterprise Forum in Washington D.C, with an assembled panel of academic, government and private sector experts offering their opinions on Earth’s increasing vulnerability to space weather.

"Our increasingly technologically dependent society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to space weather," said Brig. Gen. David. L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service at the briefing. “We are, and will continue, to work together to keep the public ahead of nature’s storms.”

Scientists says protecting the system from further damage would be extremely expensive but could be achieved by altering all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or alternatively replacing all GPS satellites with systems capable of broadcasting a stronger signal.

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