Northern Lights leading sat navs astray

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 23 Jun 2008 at 08:59

The next time your sat nav leads you down a dead end it might not be faulty software that's to blame. Scientists at Bath University claim the devices may suffer from interference from space.

The scientists claim that the Northern Lights can cause electrical interference with GPS signals, causing sat nav devices to state a faulty position or lose their place altogether.

"Space weather impacts on GPS include the introduction of range errors and the loss of signal reception, both of which can have severe effects on marine and aviation navigation, surveying, and other critical real-time applications," the researchers state, in a paper published in the online journal, Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and Applications.

The researchers used three GPS devices in Norway to measure the impact on signal strength before, during and after an aurora borealis event. They claim the signal wavered significantly during the event, with the devices often failing to get a lock on the satellites.

"Anywhere that the aurora is visible, it will cause disruption," lead researcher Professor Cathryn Mitchell told The Daily Telegraph. "Although most people in the UK can't see the aurora when it is happening, because of cloud or ambient light, it can still affect the GPS signal. We have just passed a minimum in activity but we are due to hit a maximum in 2012, which is when we would expect to see most disruption."

Device makers claim such interference will only affect devices temporarily.

Motorists could always resort to navigating by the stars, of course.