[ GPS May Be Hurt By Space Weather... ]

Apr 05, 10:38 AM

Current Headlines: By Randolph E. Schmid THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The Global Positioning System, relied on for navigating cars and airplanes and transferring money between banks, may be threatened by powerful solar flares, a panel of scientists warned Wednesday.

"Our increasingly technologically dependent society is becoming increasingly vulnerable to space weather," David L. Johnson, director of the National Weather Service, said at a briefing.

GPS receivers have become widely used in recent years, in satellite signals for navigating airplanes, ships and automobiles, for cell phones, mining, surveying and in many other ways.

Banks use the system to synchronize money transfers, "so space weather can affect all of us, right down to our wallet," said Anthea J. Coster, an atmospheric scientist.

The cause for their concern, Johnson said, was an unexpected solar radio burst Dec. 6 that affected virtually every GPS receiver on the lighted half of Earth.

Some receivers had a reduction in accuracy while others completely lost the ability to determine position, he said.

Solar activity rises and falls in 11-year cycles, with the next peak expected in 2011.

If that increasing level of activity produces more such radio bursts the GPS system could be seriously affected, the researchers said.

There are two possible ways to shield the system, one said, both very expensive.

Either alter all GPS antennas to screen out solar signals or replace all of the GPS satellites with ones that broadcast a stronger signal.

That's why it's essential to learn more about the sun's behavior quickly in an effort to find ways to predict such events, the researchers said.

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