NASA Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellow Expands Research on Space Weather Impacts to GPS in Polar Regions

NASA Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellow Waqar Younas and colleagues published the results of research showing geomagnetic storms can cause errors in Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements in polar regions that affect position accuracy. (Source)

The new research revealed risks across industries including aircraft, shipping, and oil rigs that rely on GPS for navigation in the polar regions because fewer satellites regularly pass overhead and disturbances in the ionosphere such as auroras, create greater vulnerabilities in GPS positioning. 

By expanding focus to the polar regions, researchers are seeing firsthand how complex space weather disturbances directly threaten modern infrastructure. “When geomagnetic storms disrupt the high-latitude ionosphere, the resulting GPS errors pose real operational risks to maritime navigation, aviation, and industrial operations. This vulnerability underscores the necessity for advanced space weather forecasting. We need predictive models that can map these high-latitude irregularities in real time, giving users the actionable data they need to safeguard their operations,” said Younas. 

Younas’s previous research established a link between a severe geomagnetic storm in May 2024 resulting in disruptions in GPS that caused autonomous tractors to malfunction due to their dependence on GPS for navigation.  The disruption led to millions of dollars in losses for farmers. He quantified the disruption to global navigation satellites during and after the May 2024 storm, emphasizing the need for better understanding of these solar storms, including software and hardware improvements, to mitigate future interruptions.

The new research coupled with Younas’s earlier work aims to further mitigate future space weather risks to critical infrastructure.

The work was supported by the NASA Living with a Star Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship Program administered by UCAR | Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS), NASA, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and other funders.

Read more:

• Younas, W., Nishimura, Y., Liao, W., Semeter, J. L., Mrak, S., Morton, Y. J., et al., 2026:  Characterizing the role of storm-time high-latitude ionospheric structures in GPS position accuracy in Antarctica: May 2024 storm. Space Weather, 24, e2026SW004946, https://doi.org/10.1029/2026SW004946.

• Liao, W., Nishimura, Y., Younas, W., Li, W., Groves, K. M., Donovan, E. F., & Angelopoulos, V., 2026: High-latitude GPS position error during substorms. Space Weather, 24, e2025SW004858, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025SW004858.

• Younas, W., Nishimura, Y., Liao, W., Semeter, J. L., Mrak, S., Morton, Y. J., & Groves, K. M., 2025:  Spatio-temporal evolution of mid-latitude GPS scintillation and position errors during the May 2024 solar storm. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 130, e2025JA033839, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JA033839.

• U.S. National Science Foundation, 2026: Space weather impacts on GPS extend to Polar regions, expanding on ionospheric research to mitigate future disruptions.