The world is chaos, no doubt about that. But that chaos can manifest in unusual ways, such as interference with the GPS system. From conflict zones to local military tests, draconian policies, and millionaires who hate drones, GPS takes all these blows daily around the globe, and the portal GPSJAM is in charge of registering them.
A Brief History of Free GPS
The story is well known: In 1983, a Soviet interceptor shot down the commercial flight KAL007 of Korean Air Lines, which had ended up in restricted airspace due to navigation errors. 269 people lost their lives, and as a response, the Reagan administration decided to enable free access to the GPS network to avoid similar incidents, although other sources suggest the tragedy simply accelerated the process.
Fast forward 39 years, and GPS has become a fundamental technology for global navigation at all levels... but politics can't avoid sticking its nose in. Beyond its free nature, the network is still maintained and administered by the United States, which is currently developing a remake of old rivalries with Russians and Chinese. At the same time, we have a war in progress and multiple conflict points, so GPS pays the price with pure interference. Would you like to see it on a map...?
GPSJAM: Global Map of GPS Interference
The legends are simple: Green represents low or no interference, yellow for levels between 2 and 10 percent, and red with 10 percent or more. Where does this data come from? The site explains that many airplanes transmit signals with the ADS-B system, which include information about GPS accuracy. The network ADS-B Exchange brings together thousands of enthusiasts who receive and process that data, and GPSJAM accesses the ADS-B Exchange API to generate the map.
The most important reason GPS gets interference (according to the site's manager) is military/government intervention, followed by isolated technology tests, and jamming systems that some Russian oligarchs use to protect themselves from drones. What are the hottest zones? Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iraq, southern Black Sea. If you search "GPS jamming" on Google you'll see the Web explodes with updated news, but several experts suggest that interferences in civilian GPS are nothing more than collateral damage.
You can explore the live map at GPSJAM.
