[FPSPACE] FW: AGU: Aurora, Ionosphere Interfere with GPS

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: "AAS Press Officer Dr. Steve Maran" <steve.maran at aas.org>
>To: "Steve Maran" <steve.maran at aas.org>
>Subject: AGU: Aurora, Ionosphere Interfere with GPS
>Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:58:59 -0500
>

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THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED FROM THE AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL
UNION, IN WASHINGTON, DC, AND IS FORWARDED FOR YOUR INFORMATION.
(FORWARDING DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL
SOCIETY.)  Steve Maran, American Astronomical Society
steve.maran at aas.org  1-202-328-2010 x116

9 June 2008
AGU Release No. 08-21

For Immediate Release

AGU Contact: Peter Weiss
+1 (202) 777-7507
pweiss at agu.org

Interfering with the Global Positioning System

WASHINGTON -- You can't always trust your GPS gadget. As scientists have
long known, perplexing electrical activity in the upper atmospheric
zone called the
ionosphere can tamper with signals from GPS satellites.

Now, new research and monitoring systems are clarifying what happens to
disruptive clouds of electrons and other electrically charged
particles, known as
ions, in the ionosphere. The work may lead to regional predictions of 
reduced
GPS reliability and accuracy.

One team of researchers has recently observed Earth's aurora, which is a
prominent manifestation of ionospheric electrical activity, in the act
of disrupting
GPS equipment. Other scientists have successfully tested a way to forecast 
GPS
disturbances for marine users, with likely extension to users on land.

Some research groups are turning the tables and employing GPS receivers as 
tools
with which to conduct basic research on the electrical-current structures of 
the
ionosphere.

The scientific reports on these and other recent developments are available 
in a
special section of Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and
Applications, a publication of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU.

A magazine-style article that introduces the section was posted online 
Friday,
June 6. It summarizes past research and operational developments regarding
ionospheric effects on GPS, and discusses potential future improvements in 
the
field.

The new introductory article is available at
http://www.agu.org/journals/sw/swa/free (Click on "Space Weather and the
Global Positioning System"). The special section itself, which
currently contains
seven scientific reports, is available online at
http://www.agu.org/journals/sw/?content=specialsections&ssid=GPS1

Space Weather is an online journal devoted to studies of the
electrical interactions
between the Earth and various emissions from the Sun, including electrically
charged particles (the solar wind), solar radio noise and solar
X-rays. The journal,
which has a quarterly print digest called Space Weather Quarterly, is
cosponsored
by the National Science Foundation and the International Space Environment
Service.

AGU is an international organization of Earth and space scientists. It has 
more
than 50,000 members in 137 countries, and publishes Space Weather and 18 
other
scientific journals.

Notes for Journalists
Journalists and public information officers who are registered with AGU can
directly download a PDF copy of any of the reports included in the special
section. (Just click on the links provided on the special section's
web page, whose
web address is given above.)

Nonregistered reporters may also receive a PDF copy of any report by 
emailing
Peter Weiss at pweiss at agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your
publication, and your phone number.

The scientific paper on the auroral effect is "GPS scintillation in
the high arctic
associated with an auroral arc", by Smith et al.,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007SW000349

The paper on marine GPS forecasts is "Potential for issuing ionospheric 
warnings
to Canadian users of marine DGPS", by Skone and Coster,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007SW000336

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