GPS problem reports now published on NAVCEN website

The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) is now publishing reports of GPS problems on its website. Any notes about problem resolution, if available, will also be listed.

The website will be updated as new reports are received and processed. All reports made in 2018 are now available, and reports for prior years will be made available in the future.

The reports are being made “to provide better service and situational awareness to the public,” wrote Rick Hamilton, CGSIC executive secretariat, NAVCEN.

Reports of GPS problems submitted to NAVCEN through the GPS Problem Reporting webpage will be posted to the GPS Problem Report Status webpage after review by NAVCEN staff.

Reports will be anonymized to protect the submitter’s personal information and any equipment manufacturer data.

After user and interagency partner input has been collected, any findings will be added to the report along with the suspected cause and resolution, if available.

The webpage will include the following information for each report:

• Date/Time of Disruption: Date and time of the report as provided by the reporting source.
• Date Submitted: Date the report was submitted to NAVCEN.
• Location: The general location of the reported problem based on input from the reporting source. Latitude and longitude may be used for maritime reports.
• Type: Installation type as provided by the reporting source. Choices include agriculture, automobile, aviation, communications, first responder, marine, law enforcement, research, surveying, timing, transportation and other (with a fillable field).
• Description: Description of the problem. This information from the reporting source is edited for clarity and to remove personal and equipment manufacturer identifying details. The description also provides GPS satellite constellation analysis information as provided by the GPS Operations Center, a determination if authorized GPS testing might have been a factor, and information on correlating reports from other users and interagency partners.
• Cause: The most likely cause of the report based on interagency input.
• NAVCEN Closed Date: NAVCEN collects interagency input and provides a detailed response to the reporting source for each report submitted. If there are no further questions from the reporting source, and NAVCEN has no other correlating information, NAVCEN will close the case. The results of interagency input will be included in the description field when the case is closed. This date may not correspond to the event end date.

Civil GPS users are encouraged to submit reports of GPS problems to the Coast Guard Navigation Center.

Civil aviation users are encouraged to report GPS anomalies to the Federal Aviation Administration, and military users should contact the GPS Operations Center.