Northern Lights send sat-navs in wrong direction
If your sat-nav sends you in the wrong direction it could be because of the Northern Lights, scientists claim.
Researchers from the University of Bath have found sat-nav signals can be broken up when they pass though aurora causing devices to display the wring directions.
Team leader Professor Cathryn Mitchell says the disruption could happen anywhere the aurora is visible and that GPS systems in the UK would be hit.
Because of increased aurora activity, sat-nav errors are likely to increase over the next four years the study discovered.
It is thought the results could now lead to changes in the way sat-navs are designed.
"Space weather impacts on GPS include the introduction of range errors and the loss of signal reception, both of which can have severe effects on marine and aviation navigation, surveying, and other critical real-time applications," says the research published in the American Geophysical Union's International Journal of Space Weather.
A spokesperson for the research added: "The result is important for safety-critical systems, for example for people relying on sat-nav to provide accurate navigation information to automatically land aircraft."
