Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are now fully embedded in modern society, from in-car navigation to the timing of the world’s financial transactions. GNSS technology has taken the world by storm and we have come to rely on this multi-billion pound industry.
One of the major threats to our ever increasing dependence on GNSS comes from the sun. Solar related phenomena and their effect on the Earth’s ionosphere, such as ionospheric scintillation, can be very disruptive, with serious consequential effects. The concern is that GNSS has little or no protection from them.
As we approach the next solar maximum in 2013, when ionospheric effects will be at their greatest, a network of internationally renowned experts, led by the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG) at The University of Nottingham, are joining forces to protect society from the effects of solar related phenomena on GNSS signals. These experts will be training a new generation of young researchers as well as developing new research programmes in the field of ionospheric perturbations and their mitigation.
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