Can you hear me now? Solar flares and their effect on DOD equipment

CHIPS, July-Sept, 2008 by Paul M. Kintner

GPS software receivers may be particularly useful in this application since their operation can be flexible. The receiver tracking loop bandwidth can be increased when the signals are robust and decreased when the signals are scintillating.

Finally, remember that GPS signal scintillations are not the only space weather effect on GPS signals. Solar radio bursts reduce the signal to noise ratio by increasing the noise ratio, which can threaten GPS receiver operation. Fast-moving ionospheric gradients can produce rapid signal phase changes that endanger the receiver's ability to track GPS signals.

Dr. Kintner is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Kintner received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota.