Latest news with #GNSS
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Global aviation agencies moot plan to mitigate risks due to jamming, spoofing
NEW DELHI: To mitigate the risks stemming from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference, commonly known as jamming and spoofing, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have come out with a comprehensive plan. The plan emerged out of a jointly-hosted workshop on the topic of GNSS interference held at Cologne recently. An official release from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, 'The number of global positioning system (GPS) signal loss events increased by 220% between 2021 and 2024, according to data from the Global Aviation Data Management Flight Data eXchange of IATA. And with continued geopolitical tensions, it is difficult to see this trend reversing in the near term.'
News18
3 days ago
- Science
- News18
India's Earthquake Alerts May Now Arrive Seconds Before The Tremors Do
Last Updated: India is setting up an early warning system to detect quakes in advance. Starting from the Himalayas, alerts will soon be issued before tremors hit, helping save lives and property India is taking a major step toward improving disaster preparedness with the launch of an early earthquake warning system. The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) will now issue alerts seconds before strong tremors hit, similar to weather warnings. The system is expected to give people and authorities crucial time to respond. The initiative was announced by OP Mishra, Director of NCS, who described it as a key step by the central government. A pilot project has already begun, with initial installations underway in the Himalayan region. The system is based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and will gradually expand across the country. How Will GNSS Detect Earthquakes? The GNSS monitors subtle ground movements to detect seismic activity before tectonic plates shift significantly. While earthquakes cannot be predicted in advance, early detection allows alerts to be issued as soon as initial tremors are sensed—helping reduce loss of life and damage to infrastructure. Drawing from Global Expertise India's new system uses state-of-the-art technology developed in Japan and Taiwan. It detects the primary wave (P-wave)—a fast-moving, low-damage signal released during an earthquake—before the more damaging secondary wave (S-wave) arrives. Upon P-wave detection, a signal is sent to the NCS control room within seconds, triggering alerts that include estimated intensity and impact area. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed on June 20 between NCS and the Geological Survey of India to further support the rollout. The alerts will be sent to state governments, local authorities, hospitals, and disaster management teams via the National Disaster Management Authority. The new system marks a critical advancement in India's seismic readiness and could significantly improve emergency response during future earthquakes. First Published: June 18, 2025, 15:10 IST
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Science
- Telegraph
The Royal Navy gadget that could bring signal jamming to an end
The Royal Navy will work with a new type of clock at sea that could bring malicious jamming attacks to an end. The Navy's clocks have traditionally been tied to satellites to determine the time while at sea – an essential part of navigation – but this can be vulnerable to interference and sabotage. However, in what has been hailed as a world first, a new atomic clock was able to function continuously aboard HMS Pursuer in the Solent area over three days during rough sea conditions. Named the AQlock, the device, roughly the size of a shoebox, does not have to rely on conventional position, navigation and timing, which is provided almost completely through Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) to determine time while at sea. The Government has warned a reliance on GNSS makes it susceptible to signal jamming – an attack that involves broadcasting radio waves to create interference – and spoofing, in which fake signals are transmitted to confuse systems. The clock, made by quantum sensing specialists Aquark Technologies, did not have to rely on corrections to time from GNSS and instead detected any changes by comparing the frequency of clock ticks to that of atoms. Meanwhile, rather than being launched into space the device was kept close to the point of activity and operation, which meant it was not vulnerable to jamming compared with a typical satellite in space, typically 20,000km away. By demonstrating its ability to continuously operate on board the vessel, it has shown how a global reliance on GNSS military operations, infrastructure, telecommunications, finance, transportation, and many other sectors can be reduced. Dr Alex Jantzen, Aquark Technologies chief executive, told The Telegraph: 'This is a ground-based alternative for navigation so that we won't need satellites any more. 'We've taken this high level performance clock and instead of placing it on a satellite we kept it close to the point of activity and operation, showing it no longer has to be kept at a distance.' Potential antidote to spoofing Dr Jantzen explained it was critical to ensure the atoms were cold, kept at a temperature of -273.149996C, 'the coldest place in the universe'. 'The atoms move very quickly if not kept at this temperature,' he said. 'With the atoms, by cooling them down, we make measurements of their properties and use them to stabilise the clock. That's what we count our seconds with.' The clock, built in less than a year, was tested at a national physical laboratory before it was deployed on the boat. Dr Jantzen added: 'A spoofed clock can often not return to the correct time without being hard restarted, whereas a jammed one can resync when signal is back. Having found a potential antidote to spoofing marks a critical development in this juncture.' The company worked with the Ministry of Defence 's defence science and technology laboratory to trial the device. Dr Matthew Aldous, the principal quantum scientist, said: 'The defence science and technology laboratory is pleased to have played a pivotal role in supporting Aquark and the Royal Navy in trialling this emerging technology. 'There is huge potential for quantum systems to unlock future capability, and rigorous testing in deployed environments is key to understanding the right applications for them. 'As these tools progress in maturity and ruggedness, we look forward to further opportunities to bring them to bear on real challenges faced by defence and security personnel.' Chester Butterworth, the head of the strategy, disruptive capabilities and technologies office, said: 'The Royal Navy remains committed to exploring disruptive technologies that offer the potential for significant operational advantage. 'The outcome of this trial aligns with the UK's sovereign capability goals and paves the way for future innovation that will enable the Royal Navy to leverage best-in-class technologies. 'The capabilities of Aquark's system to improve existing position, navigation and timing methods, outside of the laboratory and in harsh, remote environments, is a milestone achieved by very few systems to date.'
Hans India
6 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Training for next batch under NAKSHA scheme to kick off on Monday
The Department of Land Resources of the Ministry of Rural Development is going to start the second batch of phase 2 of the capacity-building programme under the NAKSHA (National geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban Habitations) programme from Monday across four Centres of Excellence in the country, according to an official statement issued on Sunday. The phase 1 and phase 2 of the first batch of the NAKSHA capacity building programme have successfully trained 160 Master Trainers in May this year at NIGST, Hyderabad and 151 ULB officers at five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in June. This batch of the training programme will be inaugurated virtually by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Land Resources. Under this training programme, 128 ULB-level and district officers have been nominated from around 74 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). These officers will undergo one week of hands-on training in leveraging modern geospatial technologies for effective urban property surveys at four CoEs. The Centres include the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration in Pune, the Northeast Region Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) in Chandigarh, and the Administrative Training Institute, Mysuru, the statement said. The training aims to equip ULB officers and field staff with the technical and practical skills required to oversee high-accuracy urban land surveys under the NAKSHA programme. The training modules cover the programme framework, GNSS and ETS-based surveying, Web-GIS application, land parcel mapping, and the legal-administrative aspects of land surveys. With India's urban population expected to exceed 600 million by 2031, the need for modern, verifiable, and easily accessible land records has become more urgent than ever. The NAKSHA programme addresses this challenge with a bold, technology-driven approach. NAKSHA programme is being implemented by the Department of Land Resources in association with the Survey of India, NICSI, MPSeDC, and five Centres of Excellence, as a pilot programme. NAKSHA has been launched across 157 Urban Local Bodies in 27 States and 3 Union Territories, the statement added.
IOL News
6 days ago
- Science
- IOL News
Satellite data shows South Africa rising 6mm: Here's why it matters
South Africa's landmass is slowly rising, and new research suggests the surprising cause may not be deep within the Earth but rather due to repeated droughts and water loss. A study from the University of Bonn, Germany, analysing over two decades of satellite data has found that the country experienced a vertical uplift of around 6 millimetres between 2012 and 2020. Scientists say this change is linked to the loss of surface water, with the land rising in response to the weight being lifted. The study used data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) base stations across the country to track vertical land movement. Researchers originally considered that this might be due to geological forces such as mantle flow and dynamic topography, the slow, deep movements in the Earth's crust and mantle. However, they now say the evidence points to a different explanation. "Our evidence suggests that land water loss from multiple droughts is a major driver of the observed uplift," the researchers wrote. To reach this conclusion, the team analysed daily height records from Global Positioning System (GPS) stations between 2000 and 2021. They applied a method known as Singular Spectral Analysis (SSA) to separate long-term trends and seasonal variations from random noise in the data.
