FAA Trying to Reduce Radio, GPS Interference

The FAA says it is going after those who intentionally or unwittingly jam or otherwise interfere with any of the 30,000 radio frequencies used by aviation. According to MSN, the agency is now in the market for gear that can pinpoint the source of disruptive radio transmissions so they can be stopped. At a recent meeting with potential suppliers of that kind of gear, FAA officials said the agency has always tried to find interference sources but its current methods can take weeks to identify the source. “It was designed for a quieter world in the aviation spectrum that no longer exists,” MSN quoted FAA VP of Technical Operations Dan Murphy as telling the conference. “We must be able to find the source of spectrum interference in seconds or minutes, not days or weeks.”

Fortunately for the FAA, numerous systems installed on aircraft, cell towers, satellites and, of course, ADS-B. For instance, in the ADS-B data stream is a slice that tests the quality of GPS and rates its confidence in the location that it’s reporting. There are already organizations, such as Stanford University, aggregating that data and using it to show where GPS interference is occurring. Predictably, Russia and Ukraine top the jamming list but the Middle East has plenty as does the U.S. Southwest. ADS-B has limitations and space-based systems apparently offer the best hope of delivering on the FAA’s requirements.

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