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What’s New: Some feedback on how solar activity disrupted GPS signals and impacted farmers.
Why It’s Important:
- 80% of farmers use GPS in some form or fashion to raise their crops.
- About one third of the food produced in the U.S. is from highly automated precision agriculture.
- Difficulties because of GPS interruptions can increase food prices and could put some farmers out of business.
- Also, “demon tractors” sounds like a safety issue.
What Else to Know: GPS signals are never safe from the sun.
- Solar activity that disrupts GPS and other GNSS can happen at any point in the solar cycle.
- There is some evidence that less powerful solar activity has more of an impact on GPS signals than the strongest events.
Thanks to member Mitch Narins for pointing this article out to us!
Farmers Say the Sun Turned Their John Deere Tractors Into ‘Demon-Possessed’ Machines
Here’s how wicked solar storms created technological chaos.
On May 10, 2024, one of the most massive solar storms in decades (and the strongest aurora display in centuries) crashed into Earth, making the northern lights not so northern—for a few nights, at least. “We’ll be studying this event for years,” NASA’s Acting Director of the Space Weather Analysis Office, Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla, said after the event. “It will help us test the limits of our models and understanding of solar storms.”
Now, details are still emerging about how the solar storm impacted the everyday goings-on here on Earth. One strange side effect, as reported by Spaceweather.com, is how this intense geomagnetic storm impacted farms knee-deep in May planting season. Because of this busy time of year, many farmers worked into the night with GPS-guided tractors doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
But then, things got weird.
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