Sat-nav blunders could be down to Northern Lights

chris

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 24, 2012
Messages
357
Reaction score
260
Points
63
Age
52
My Satellite Setup
TalkTalk TV
My Location
Worksop UK
Lorries stuck on narrow country lanes, cars driving into rivers.

As the evidence shows - hi-tech satellite navigation systems are far from infallible.

But don't worry, next time that expensive piece of kit on the dashboard goes on the blink as you are running late for an important meeting, try this as an excuse.

It was all because of the Northern Lights.

The spectacular overhead displays of the aurora borealis have been found to make satellite navigation systems go awry.

The problem arises because sat-nav devices rely on signals from a network of satellites orbiting more than 12,600 miles above the earth.

Sat-nav devices use GPS (Global Positioning Systems) technology developed by the US Department of Defence in 1970s to map the location of the vehicle to within a few yards, calculating its position on the basis of signals from space.

But researchers at the University of Bath have discovered that those all important satellite signals can be broken up when they pass through the dazzling illuminations of the Northern Lights.

This reduces the accuracy of the system and could have implications for anyone relying on sat-nav at a time when the lights are most active.

And according to researchers, the result is particularly important for safety-critical systems, for example for people relying on sat-nav to provide accurate navigation information to automatically land aircraft.

The study, by the University of Bath's department of electrical engineering is the first to find that the aurora borealis, which can sometimes be seen from Britain, directly affect sat-nav devices.

In order to conduct their research, exerts used three closely positioned sat-nav systems in Norway to measure the signal strength from satellites before, during and after an aurora borealis event.

The results showed that the signal faded rapidly during light activity. The main problem was that the satellite signal lost its 'lock' on the device receiver.

The aurorae (there are Southern Lights, known as the Aurora Australis) were a mystery until well into the 20th century. But research has shows that they are whipped up by the Solar Wind - a stream of charged particles from the sun that constantly buffets the Earth.

These particles have upward of ten million megaWatts of electrical power - enough to light up the city of Los Angeles.

The electrons and other particles give off the excess energy in the form of flashes of light, so producing the aurorae which are concentrated around the Earth's poles, where the magnetic field is strongest.

Under normal circumstances the upper layers of the atmosphere, known as the ionosphere, behave like a smooth plate of glass, allowing satellite signals to beam straight through to the earth below.

But when the lights are active the ionosphere becomes 'lumpy', which disrupts the signal.

Professor Cathryn Mitchell, who led the research, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Although most people in the UK can't see the aurora when they are happening, because of cloud or ambient light, they can still affect the GPS signal.'

She said that aurora activity in the UK had been low, but was set to rise.

'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.'

Drivers have already been advised not to rely completely on sat-nav devices.

With the growth in popularity of the navigation devices, there have been numerous reports of vehicles - particularly lorries - getting stuck in narrow country lanes and under bridges.

Such is the devotion of some motorists to the devices that they have plunged into impassable fords - and even continued on to railway lines.

According to Network Rail, the number of such collisions nationally has risen from 885 a year a decade ago to 1,340 today - causing £15million of damage a year and wasting 5,000 hours of train passengers' time.

Two out of 14 devices tested by Consumer magazine Which? sent drivers down dirt tracks and another told the researcher to beat a queue by doing a dangerous U-turn.

At the time the consumer magazine said satnav is 'not a magic wand' and warned: 'Don't rely on them completely or you could end up down a blind alley.'



Source: dailymail
 

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
Staff member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
35,533
Reaction score
8,554
Points
113
Age
59
Website
www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
Today my recently bought Satnav took me on a nice country route to Horsham via the A24 (no problem)
then up the A29,
through Ockley ,
and then back down the A24

I had not selected any 'avoid roadworks' system, nor chosen a scenic route.
 

2cvbloke

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
9,768
Reaction score
1,808
Points
113
Age
38
My Satellite Setup
No satellite stuff for the moment (aside from a 43cm minidish that was on the house already), Samsung SyncMaster T27B550 Smart TV & Monitor, and a few computers...
My Location
Near Pontop Pike, Co. Durham
So, how does disrupted Sat nav make a truck drive down a country lane or coach drive into a field?!?! I think it's eejit drivers... ;)

My mum's partner refuses to buy a Satnav unit as he uses both maps and MS Autoroute (although the latter isn't quite that infallible), and gets his job done with very few navigation mishaps compared to that of some of his GPS armed collegues... ;)
 

asdigi07

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
My Satellite Setup
SkyHD
My Location
UK
2cvbloke said:
So, how does disrupted Sat nav make a truck drive down a country lane or coach drive into a field?!?! I think it's eejit drivers... ;)

My mum's partner refuses to buy a Satnav unit as he uses both maps and MS Autoroute (although the latter isn't quite that infallible), and gets his job done with very few navigation mishaps compared to that of some of his GPS armed collegues... ;)
I agree, its the drivers that are the problem, not the sat nav, if the drivers were to see its a narrow lane then they *should* go somewhere else and the sat nav would redirect them.

If the Sat nav said to carry on driving off the edge of a cliff im sure they wouldn't carry on.... authough on second thought they probably would! :-rofl2
 
Top