Gps jamming | Strong GPS interference ruined aerial photography in Southeastern Finland – Millions of damages are threatened, says the Land Surveying Office

Satellite positioning intentional interference has spoiled the Land Survey’s aerial photography and laser bowling this year.

According to the department, the interference has caused significant harm in South-Eastern Finland. The Land Surveying Institute now warns that the disturbance can still cause damages of millions of euros. The source of the disturbance is in Russia.

Laser bowling needs accurate satellite positioning to succeed. Cartographer Juha Kareinen The land surveying institute says that this year, due to satellite interference, they completely missed the laser survey of the Kouvola area.

“Normally, our bowling activities take place at an altitude of 1,800 meters. We couldn’t do it because there was constant harassment. Even though we lowered the flight height to 900 meters, we were not able to produce any laser scanning data from Kouvola,” says Kareinen.

In addition, there was constant harassment in the Kotka aerial photography area. The planned area did not yield as good material as usual.

“At worst, our aerial photography equipment stopped working and we couldn’t capture the area during the best weather conditions.”

Kareinen is worried about the filming planned for next year in Southeast Finland. He is afraid that he won’t get any material from there at all.

“As the situation drags on, the problems multiply, because the Food Agency needs to receive aerial photographs every three years so that it can inspect the field blocks. According to the EU directive, it must be done every three years. If it cannot be done, there will be sanctions,” says Kareinen.

Land Surveying Office use aerial photographs to maintain the terrain database. The terrain database is Finland’s comprehensive terrain description material, the most important objects of which are the transport network, buildings and other structures, land use, water areas and height ratios.

The acquisition of imaging material is financed with the so-called Kallio partners, i.e. within the framework of the national laser scanning and aerial imaging program. Cooperation partners are the Food Agency and the Finnish Forestry Center and Metsähallitus.

The Food Agency uses aerial photographs to interpret field blocks. Agricultural subsidies are paid based on field blocks interpreted from aerial photographs. The Finnish Metsäkeskus and Metsähallitus use the images to inventory forest reserves.

In addition to the three main purposes mentioned above, aerial photos and the results of laser bowling are also used by other authorities, such as the Defense Forces.

With laser bowling again, a very accurate three-dimensional model of the earth’s surface can be created. The operation is financed by the Land Surveying Institute, which uses the material to create an elevation model from Finland.

The Finnish Metsäkeskus and Metsähallitus use laser scanning models for tree inventory. The length of the stand can be found out with laser scanning and the species of the trees from aerial photos.

In addition, for example, the Finnish Environment Agency uses laser scanning for safety mapping.

According to the Land Surveying Institute’s estimate, the financial benefit of laser scanning and aerial photography data for Finland is tens of millions of euros per year.

Land Surveying Office considers that Finland needs a service that improves the safety of satellite positioning, which detects interference in the air and at sea.

The current situational picture of satellite positioning system disturbances in the air and at sea, i.e. gnss (Global Navigation Satellite System) disturbances, is often based on user reports, which is accompanied by uncertainties.

The Land Survey would like a “weather report” of gnss disturbances in Finland, which would provide an up-to-date picture of the quality of the positioning signals. In Finland, the control of the use of frequencies and the investigation of disturbances belong to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency.

The public tends to talk about gps jamming, but there are four major global satellite navigation systems, so a better term is gnss jamming.

At the land surveying office a “block” on a mobile platform is currently being developed, i.e. a solution that could be used to create a snapshot of satellite navigation disturbances.

We are applying for funding for the development work. The goal is that as early as next summer such a gnss interference sniffer could be installed on the surveying aircraft of the Land Surveying Institute.

“There would be a desperate need for something like this,” says the professor Sanna Kaasalainen. He is the head of the navigation and positioning department of the Geospatial Information Center at the National Land Survey.

“We’ll try to make a prototype, if only we can get the money.”

Kaasalainen says that many operators would like to know what causes the disturbances so that they can prepare for it.

“I’m sorry [häirintälaitteen] recognize from their typical radio spectra, they have a certain kind of signal behavior. By analyzing the signal, it is possible to identify where it is coming from.”

For example, last summer’s disturbances were investigated in such a way that the data from the receivers of the film cameras were examined afterwards. The cause of the disturbance was found to be a jammer.

“But we would like to make it real-time. There would be a need for that.”

Land Surveying Office the researchers are primarily developing the prototype for their own use, but they say there have been a lot of inquiries. The Land Surveying Institute is a research unit, and its activities do not include the maintenance of IT applications.

“We are not a software company. If we now develop a block that can identify the source of interference and provide situation information, then it’s up to someone else to package it and start selling it in stores and maintaining the software.”