GPS Jamming, Spoofing

Rarely do we have days without notice of deliberate GPS interference somewhere in the U.S., usually from the military. But that’s only one source of GPS errors.

BTeter

Wednesday, June 05, 2024 at 07:53 AM ET

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A spoofing transmitter is typically identified because it is ground-based instead of space-based. (Drawing courtesy of GPSPATRON.)

Key Takeaways:

Modern WAAS GPS is vulnerable to errors and disruptions from natural phenomena (e.g., solar events), jamming (loss of signal), and sophisticated spoofing (misleading position data).
GPS jamming overpowers weak satellite signals, leading to a complete loss of positioning, often unintentionally, but also intentionally in military or conflict zones.
GPS spoofing, which deceptively alters the aircraft's reported location, is a growing and more insidious threat, particularly in regions like Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, posing significant safety risks to aviation.
Aviation authorities recommend pilots diligently monitor GPS systems, perform preflight checks, report any disruptions to ATC, and be prepared to operate without GPS navigation due to the increasing frequency and severity of these incidents.

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Modern WAAS GPS provides ILS-like precision position and guidance, which can be affected by natural ionospheric disturbances and unintentional or intentional jamming. Spoofing by altering the apparent WAAS GPS position is also a growing problem, particularly in Eastern Europe. It’s time we explored these GPS errors.

WAAS/GPS Fundamentals

The GPS satellites transmit their orbital data in a long extended-data stream. The time of arrival of the low-amplitude data stream from the satellite is critical in determining the aircraft’s position. The GPS satellites, owned by the Department of Defense, are not geostationary—they rotate around the Earth in low orbits. “WAAS satellites” are in geostationary orbits much higher than the GPS satellites.