GPS (global positioning systems) signals messed up during storms are indeed tricky and risky for drivers and pilots. But undependable they may be during weather disturbances, this very same haywire activity could prove useful to NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Scientists from both institutions have discovered that the wind speeds and wind strength of tropical cyclone storms can actually be predicted by just how messed up the actual GPS satellite signals are.

GPS Signals Messed up During Storms Could Measure Wind Speeds, Strengths of Weather Disturbances

Scientists led by Stephen Katzberg from the Langley Research Center learned that a GPS signal, when it hits a body of water, 60 per cent of the radio waves bounce back to the sky. However, these radio waves, at the height of a hurricane and tropical cyclone storm, when the wind speed is so fast, all the more gets distorted and gets scattered in different directions.

"As the surface gets rougher, the reflections get more disturbed and that's what we measure," Mr Katzberg said, noting the improved wind speed measurements effectively lead to more accurate storm warnings.

GPS receiver chips, located or placed inside an aircraft, take in the data measurements. A computer will then assess and compare the two types of signals it is currently taking in - that coming directly from the satellites above versus that from the sea below. An approximate wind speed will then be calculated and estimated which according to Mr Katzberg turned out to be better than 11 miles per hour accurate.

The technology, however, will not work for land-based storms because it solely relies on the water and the waves.

Still, the technology is still up for a lot of improvement.

For one, "those aircraft are not out there all the time, they have an 8-hour work day just like us," he said. "Plus, it's dangerous."

Moreover, Mr Katzberg said both NOAA and NASA have no plans to replace the traditional dropsondes with GPS, because dropsondes are still more accurate by 10 times.

A dropsondes is a 16-inch-long tube packed with scientific instruments that gather information during their descent. But it comes with an expensive price tag - $750 per tube.

Mr Katzberg believed though the GPS technique could still be refined further to provide better, more accurate and not to mention cheaper information in the future.