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In 2009, North Korea did a clandestine nuclear test that took place one kilometer underground. This approach to nuclear testing by rogue nations has often been difficult to track and monitor because, well, they take place nearly a mile underground and no radioactive gas or dust is let into the atmosphere. So, it’s the ideal way to do nuclear testing without the rest of the world knowing, right? Well, this all about to change thanks to a team of scientists who determined that GPS data can be used to track and monitor underground nuclear tests.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent Popular Science post with more details:

When a nuclear blast that large goes off underground, it sends a shockwave of disturbed air into the ionosphere. That shockwave is typically hard to measure, but these scientists may have found a way, using regular GPS. GPS, see, relies on timing more than anything else to determine location: it measures the time the signal takes to rebound from a device to the satellite, and vice versa. But disturbances in the air can change those measurements, so GPS units have sophisticated algorithms to sense and adjust to that kind of disturbance–so why not the nuclear shockwave?

The scientists performed some tests after the 2009 blast, and found that they were able to nail down the location and timing of the blast using eleven different satellites. They’re optimistic that this tech could be used to supplement other ways of confirming that an illicit blast took place. They even hope that this technology might compel the U.S. to reconsider its refusal to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The power of GPS could potentially influence the U.S. stance on signing the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty? As we have highlighted before, GEOINT technologies can truly change the world.

Tags: GEOINT, GPS and Nuclear Testing, GPS Technology, North Korean Nuclear Testing, Nuclear, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF