Last week’s solar flares triggered incredible displays of Northern Lights across North America and Europe.But they also may have resulted in crooked crop lines on the prairies. That’s because the solar storms that wreak havoc on television and radio signals also disrupt GPS receivers on tractors and planting equipment that allow farmers to seed the ground without overlapping rows.Straight crop lines mean less wastage of fertilizer and fuel, and hence lower costs.Farmers across Western Canada down into the Midwest US reported outages that prompted many to stop seeding during the peak planting season..According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) the Level 5 storm was the worst since 2003, lighting up the night sky as far south as Texas, Florida and Alabama. Reports of Aurora Borealis were received from as far away as Puerto Rico and Cuba.The storms disrupt the ionosphere, a section of Earth’s atmosphere filled with charged particles. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to ‘bounce’ signals around the globe, which are refracted and scrambled.That in turn meant GPS receivers struggled to lock locations and offered incorrect positions, NOAA said. The effects are more pronounced around the geomagnetic equator near sunset.“Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” the center said. “Users of high frequency (HF) radio signals may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth.”.Even Elon Musk complained the storm had put its Starlink satellites under “tremendous strain” without giving details. It wasn’t clear if the storm was affecting the satellites in space or the receiving equipment on Earth.In any event, the situation was so bad John Deere posted updates on its website warning that its guidance systems had been “extremely compromised” and said it was in search of a fix to avoid future outages.One Facebook poster described the disruption as "a disaster" as he tried to spread manure, according to Rural Roots Canada.Although the full extent of the damage won’t be known for weeks — when the seeds actually sprout — location errors ranged from several feet to dozens of metres. And while the worst of the event appears to be over, NOAA said secondary impacts can linger for days or weeks.
Last week’s solar flares triggered incredible displays of Northern Lights across North America and Europe.But they also may have resulted in crooked crop lines on the prairies. That’s because the solar storms that wreak havoc on television and radio signals also disrupt GPS receivers on tractors and planting equipment that allow farmers to seed the ground without overlapping rows.Straight crop lines mean less wastage of fertilizer and fuel, and hence lower costs.Farmers across Western Canada down into the Midwest US reported outages that prompted many to stop seeding during the peak planting season..According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) the Level 5 storm was the worst since 2003, lighting up the night sky as far south as Texas, Florida and Alabama. Reports of Aurora Borealis were received from as far away as Puerto Rico and Cuba.The storms disrupt the ionosphere, a section of Earth’s atmosphere filled with charged particles. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to ‘bounce’ signals around the globe, which are refracted and scrambled.That in turn meant GPS receivers struggled to lock locations and offered incorrect positions, NOAA said. The effects are more pronounced around the geomagnetic equator near sunset.“Flares of this magnitude are not frequent,” the center said. “Users of high frequency (HF) radio signals may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth.”.Even Elon Musk complained the storm had put its Starlink satellites under “tremendous strain” without giving details. It wasn’t clear if the storm was affecting the satellites in space or the receiving equipment on Earth.In any event, the situation was so bad John Deere posted updates on its website warning that its guidance systems had been “extremely compromised” and said it was in search of a fix to avoid future outages.One Facebook poster described the disruption as "a disaster" as he tried to spread manure, according to Rural Roots Canada.Although the full extent of the damage won’t be known for weeks — when the seeds actually sprout — location errors ranged from several feet to dozens of metres. And while the worst of the event appears to be over, NOAA said secondary impacts can linger for days or weeks.
