The Northern Lights over a farmhouse in Iceland. (Photo by redtea/Getty Images)
The location signals transmitted to Earth by GPS satellites were knocked off by several hundred feet during solar storm Gannon last May, and the disruption lasted for up to two days in parts of the U.S., a new study has found. The disruption caused major disruptions to the agricultural sector, costing the industry more than $500 million in losses.
A series of powerful solar flares in early May last year triggered the most powerful solar storm to hit Earth in 20 years. Later named after the late space weather scientist Jennifer Gannon, the storm produced stunning auroras that were visible as far south as Mexico, Portugal and Spain. It also knocked out GPS for days.
Farmers in the American Midwest, in the midst of planting season, reported that their GPS-controlled tractors acted as if they were “possessed” during a storm, according to reports. A new study has now quantified how severe these GPS errors were not only at the height of the storm, but also afterward, when lingering aurora borealis continued to distort GPS signals.
You may like
-
US Not Ready for Major Solar Storm, Exercise Shows
-
Powerful geomagnetic storm on Mother's Day created radio-disrupting bubbles in Earth's upper atmosphere
Sourse: www.livescience.com
