{"id":677273,"date":"2026-09-07T18:43:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T18:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/677273\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T18:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T18:43:19","slug":"a-solar-storm-knocked-gps-off-by-33-feet-across-the-us-and-scientists-had-never-seen-this-kind-of-disruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/677273\/","title":{"rendered":"A Solar Storm Knocked GPS Off by 33 Feet Across the US and Scientists Had Never Seen This Kind of Disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>International Space Station photos of the November 12 2025 solar superstorm auroras.\u00a0Credit: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit\/NASA Johnson Space Center<\/p>\n

GPS has become so dependable that we barely think about it. We ask where we are, and a satellite system thousands of miles away answers within seconds with an accuracy under ten feet (three meters). Most of the time, the system is so reliable that there is little reason to think that something could knock it off course.<\/p>\n

But on November 11, 2025, something did. <\/p>\n

During a severe geomagnetic storm, GPS positions across parts of the continental United States drifted by more than 10 meters (33 feet). The disturbance lasted for hours and stretched across a huge swath of the country. GPS did not fail outright, but it became inaccurate enough to threaten systems that depend on ultra-precise positioning.<\/p>\n

A new study explains how it all happened\u2014and, more importantly, changes where scientists think this kind of trouble can occur. The researchers found that the auroral oval (the ring-shaped region around each magnetic pole where auroras most commonly occur) pushed unusually far south and created a broad band of disturbed, unevenly charged air across mid-latitudes, a region usually considered comparatively quiet. <\/p>\n

Strong signal fading had been observed at mid-latitudes before, but only in isolated cases. This storm showed that the same kind of disruption can spread across a much larger area.<\/p>\n

The next question is whether scientists can use that knowledge to predict where and when a solar storm will knock GPS accuracy off course.<\/p>\n

Shimmering Signals<\/p>\n

GPS satellites determine position by sending precisely timed radio signals to receivers on Earth. Those signals must cross the ionosphere, a region filled with electrically charged particles.<\/p>\n

Disturbances that make GPS signals flicker\u2014a phenomenon called scintillation<\/a>\u2014occur most often near the poles and the equator. Mid-latitudes, like much of the United States, tend to be calmer. Scientists had detected strong amplitude scintillation there before, but mostly at isolated locations. The new study reports it across a vast range of longitudes for the first time.<\/p>\n

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The researchers reconstructed the storm using ground GPS stations, aurora cameras, and other instruments. As the storm intensified, the auroral oval expanded toward the equator. Energetic particles poured into the ionosphere, creating a broad east-west band where electron density changed abruptly. Smaller irregularities formed along those boundaries. <\/p>\n

For GPS signals, the result was a little like looking through shimmering air above hot pavement. Signal strength fluctuated sharply and position estimates deteriorated. <\/p>\n

At some locations, the error exceeded 10 meters. The authors note that errors of even one or two meters can cause serious problems for precision farming and autonomous vehicle navigation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The maps show the chain unfolding across the same broad swath of North America: (a) The storm\u2019s strength over time using standard space-weather measures. (b) Auroral brightness. (c) The amount of electrically charged material in the ionosphere, while (d) shows how irregular and rapidly changing that material became. (e) How strongly GPS signals fluctuated. (f) The resulting positioning errors in meters. Credit: Geophysical Research Letters<\/p>\n

Can We Mitigate It?<\/p>\n

For day-to-day activities, the GPS error shouldn\u2019t have caused too much disturbance apart from a wrong turn. But a tractor steering automatically along crop rows has much less room for error.<\/p>\n

Precision agriculture uses highly accurate satellite guidance to plant, fertilize and harvest with minimal overlap. GPS also supplies timing used by telecommunications, finance, and other critical infrastructure. According to NIST<\/a>, GPS timing helps synchronize cellphone calls and time-stamp financial transactions.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the GPS accuracy can get much worse. The vulnerability became unusually visible during the May 2024 geomagnetic superstorm. A peer-reviewed analysis published in 2025 found GPS positioning errors reaching 70 meters<\/a> in parts of the central United States, coinciding with reported outages in farm equipment.<\/p>\n

November 2025 was different. The errors were generally smaller, but strong amplitude scintillation spread across mid-latitudes on an unprecedented geographic scale. And the storm arrived in November, outside the main U.S. planting season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the November superstorm onset had occurred during farming season in the American sector, it could have led to significant losses for the American farming and transportation industries,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Blended composite image of all six X-class flares from November 9, 10, and 11, 2025. Credit: NASA\/SDO\/Scott Wiessinger<\/p>\n

Scientists can see major eruptions leave the Sun and forecast geomagnetic storms<\/a>, but translating a storm warning into local GPS performance remains difficult. Scintillation depends not just on solar activity, but also Earth\u2019s magnetic field, electric fields, and the rapidly changing ionosphere. The study calls for coordinated observations and physics-based models to improve those forecasts.<\/p>\n

NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center<\/a> likewise notes that predicting a storm\u2019s intensity is not the same as predicting its effects on Earth. <\/p>\n

As machines become more autonomous and more industries depend on precise satellite positioning, these disruptions become harder to dismiss as rare space-weather phenomena. The November storm showed that GPS accuracy can deteriorate quickly across regions usually considered relatively safe. The next challenge is to turn that new understanding into useful warnings before the errors reach the ground.<\/p>\n

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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