A Dstl-University of Bath Case Study

This case study highlights research from the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the University of Bath on monitoring space weather effects on GPS/GNSS through innovative use of smartphone technology.

Space weather, including ionospheric scintillation, can pose a serious challenge to GPS/GNSS applications by introducing errors and potential outages in positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). When GPS/GNSS signals travel through the ionosphere, they experience disturbances that can lead to reduced accuracy and signal integrity. For critical civilian applications—such as aviation, maritime navigation, and telecommunications—these disruptions can create delays, elevate safety concerns, and increase costs. As GPS/GNSS dependence continues to grow, addressing the impacts of ionospheric delay becomes essential to secure reliable navigation and timing.