GPS Reception

We haven't posted much general GPS stuff on the MBlog, but I thought this was particularly interesting. I came across a post on gps tracklog titled, Does heavy cloud cover affect GPS reception. The post references Dave Patton's answers to some frequently asked questions about GPS reception.

The GPS signals will not be affected by clouds, rain, fog, snow, etc., because of the combination of their passing through water vapour, and the signal wavelength meaning they "pass through" rain etc.

On the other hand, water will block/attenuate GPS signals. For example, you can't receive GPS signals underwater, although having a GPS receiver antenna very close to the water surface may allow some reception.

Most cloth that would be covering a GPS receiver's antenna will pass GPS signals(e.g. backpack, jacket, etc.), but cloth with a metallic component will block/attenuate the signals.

Cloth that covers a GPS receiver's antenna and gets wet (e.g. from rain) can also block/attenuate the GPS signals. In fact, you don't even need the cloth - water on the case that covers the GPS receiver antenna can block/attenuate the GPS signals. That water could be drops, and/or a film of water. I've seen that happen myself, when using my etrex Venture in the rain - the signals were weak/blocked, but a quick drying-off of the GPS case over the antenna brought the reception back, which then degraded again as water accumulated on the case. Similarly, GPS signal reception is degraded in wet forest canopy conditions compared to when the forest canopy is dry.