On November 11, 2025, the Sun unleashed a series of solar flares that hit Earth and triggered a severe geomagnetic storm that peaked for about six hours. The event caused beautiful auroras in the skies, but also wreaked havoc on crucial technology we depend on for our daily lives. In a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists measured the disruption to global navigation systems caused by the geomagnetic storm. The results revealed significant positioning errors, large enough to disrupt precision agriculture and autonomous vehicles across the United States. A storm is approaching During a solar storm, the Sun bombards Earth with bursts of radiation and charged particles that overload and distort the planet’s upper atmosphere, called the ionosphere. This slows down and diverts GPS radio signals passing through this layer. The effect is usually strongest near the equator and polar regions, but can extend to mid-latitudes during intense geomagnetic storms. To observe the effects of the November 2025 solar storm, the scientists behind the new study combined observations from aurora cameras with networks of ground-based GPS receivers in the US and Canada. They mapped the density of high-energy electrons in the ionosphere, as well as the signal fluctuations and positioning errors that occurred during the storm. As the storm intensified, scientists observed electrons traveling through Earth’s magnetic field and colliding with gases in the upper atmosphere at a wide range of latitudes. According to the study, strong signal fluctuations appeared throughout the United States and the disturbances extended almost entirely from the West Coast to the East Coast and as far south as Florida. The irregularities caused satellite signals to fluctuate for hours and altered GPS positioning by more than 30 feet (10 meters). Space weather versus Earth Positioning errors at this level can affect agricultural equipment such as GPS-equipped tractors. In May 2024, a more severe geomagnetic storm hit Earth during the agricultural season, costing Midwestern farmers more than $500 million in damages, according to Space.com. “If the November superstorm had occurred during the agricultural season in the US sector, it could have caused significant economic losses for the US agricultural industry,” the authors wrote in the paper. The GPS disruption was also strong enough to derail autonomous vehicles, the researchers noted. Solar storms are difficult to predict. Depending on where the Sun is during its 11-year cycle, our star experiences periods of high or low solar activity. While scientists can predict the possibility of an eruption during solar maximum, the exact timing of the event and its magnitude are difficult to forecast. Scientists are actively working on new tools to help them predict solar storms more quickly and accurately. Until then, the Sun’s chaotic outbursts continue to pose a threat to Earth’s technologies. “The results underline the importance of an accurate understanding of various space weather phenomena to improve our predictive capabilities through coordinated observations and physics-based models and ultimately reduce perturbations over time.” [radio frequency] applications during space weather events,” the researchers wrote.
