Tags: European Space Agency, GPS, Solar Maximum, Satellite Communications
Publication: DailyMail.co.uk
Publication Date: 11/14/2012

Even solar flares can have adverse affects on satellites orbiting Earth, power grids on the ground and cell phone communications. Image credit: ESA

The new generation of satellites will face a hot test next year. Intense solar storms are expected, which means that the number of sunspots will increase massively, causing changes in our planet’s ionosphere – the shell of plasma at the top of our atmosphere.

During these solar events, the star’s irradiance output increases by approximately 0.1 percent. Thus, more heat will be expelled from the sun, which causes the ionosphere to become thicker during the day and cooler during the night. This could in itself cause turbulence that affect radio systems.

This would be the first “solar maximum” for current-generation satellite navigation technology. Scientists are considering the possibility that the changes in the ionosphere could cause problems such as signal delay with GPS and other communication from space.

The European Space Agency is installing monitoring stations all over the globe to keep track of the solar maximum’s effects and consequences for satellite navigation and communications. They will measure variations in GPS signals with more accuracy than existing systems.

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