Tonga's Underwater Volcano Disrupts Satellite Signals Globally

The eruption of the Tonga underwater volcano has been found to disrupt satellite signals halfway around the world by creating an equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) in the ionosphere, severely disrupting satellite-based communications. An international team used satellite- and ground-based ionospheric observations to demonstrate that an air pressure wave triggered by volcanic eruptions could produce an EPB in the ionosphere. The EPB can delay radio waves and degrade the performance of GPS. The team also found that the EPB extended much further than predicted by the standard models, reaching space even beyond the ionosphere.