Geomagnetic Storms Science Fair Projects

Geomagnetics

The earth has many geomagnetic fields that can be manipulated by solar flares and sunstorms. Geomagnetic storms on the earth can lead to GPS issues.

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Objectives/Goals

I want to see how geomagnetic storms affect GPS precision.

Methods/Materials

I used a Garmin GPS device, NOAA Space Weather Now, and a computer. I went on Google maps to find the precise coordinates of my location. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, I took three tests measuring my coordinates. Then, I checked on NOAA to see if there was a storm. If there was a storm, I marked the font red. Then, I compiled the data into graphs.

Results

My results showed that on average, the storm days were off more than the non-storm days. The coordinates were off on average 24 feet.

Conclusions/Discussion

From this, I conclude that geomagnetic storms do interfere with GPS reception. Therefore, when using a GPS, it is impossible to know how accurate the coordinates are. I would also like to test wether cellphone reception is affected by geomagnetic storms. 3rd party contributor