Solar Cycle 25
The Sun is heading towards a period of peak activity where an abundance of solar flares and other solar disturbances may impact satellites circling the Earth. This peak is predicted to occur in July 2025.
This increase in solar activity will disrupt the Earth’s ionosphere which in turn affects the propagation of GNSS signals.
What would an impact look like?
- Signal Delays, your GNSS receiver may take longer to receive and process signals, resulting in inaccurate positioning data.
- Signal Instability, Fluctuations in the ionosphere can cause the GNSS signal to weaken or become erratic, leading to jumps and inconsistencies in your positioning data.
- Reduced Accuracies, the combined effect of delays and instability can significantly reduce the accuracy of your GNSS measurements, impacting your ability to perform precise tasks.
What tech improvements have Trimble made so that solar flares don’t impact our positioning services?
Solar flares are a challenge for all satellite-based GNSS services because the flare directly interrupts a satellite’s feedback to the Earth.
Trimble continually optimises the performance of its GNSS receivers and GNSS-based correction services. Multi-constellation, multi-frequency and sophisticated technology and algorithms help to mitigate these ionospheric impacts. Trimble also provides several mitigation solutions within our current positioning portfolio, including our base stations, rover receivers and corrections services, including Trimble RTX® and Network-RTK software solutions. Trimble recently announced its Trimble IonoGuard(TM) technology for civil construction, geospatial and OEM GNSS customers, designed to minimise GNSS signal interruptions
What can I do to mitigate impact?
During peaks of solar activity, where certain portions of the ionosphere are excited, higher TEC values (and therefore greater signal delays) will occur. Space weather, such as sunspots, can disturb the upper ionosphere, causing small-scale irregularities which can lead to scintillation.
While TEC and scintillation may typically occur at key times throughout the day, such as midday or dusk, that is not always the case. We suggest users utilise multi-frequency and multi-constellation receivers and plan ahead by using our GNSS Planning Tool (gnssplanning.com) and avoid working during times where there is high probability of interference.