OSLO — A U.N. plan to upgrade "space weather" forecasts can help the world cope with solar storms that might wreak up to $2 trillion in damage if the sun repeated a giant flare of 1859, experts said.

The sun is entering a more active phase due to peak in 2013 on a roughly 11-year sunspot cycle, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. Power supplies, air traffic control, communications and satellites can all be disrupted by storms.

"We are increasingly being impacted by space weather," Barbara Ryan, director of the space weather program at the Geneva-based WMO, told Reuters. She said there was a need to coordinate forecasts and upgrade warnings of looming storms.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43327720...science-space/


Report highlights GPS vulnerability to space weather
by Lloyd's List — last modified Jun 08, 2011 12:20 PM

A new report from the American Meteorological Society has revealed how vulnerable satellite systems are to space weather, such as solar flares and geomagnetic storms, which can cause distortion or total loss of a signal.

It highlights the impact solar storms could have on modern communication and global navigation satellite systems and is urging for more work be done to understand the impact of space phenomena.

GPS receivers calculate their location through the analysis of signals...
http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/arch...-space-weather

also

http://www.surveyequipment.com/news/...es-174954.html