Treating Statewide CORS Networks as Spatially Distributed Sensors for GNSS Integrity Monitoring under Unintentional and Deliberate Threats

Computer Science > Cryptography and Security [Submitted on 9 Aug 2026] Treating Statewide CORS Networks as Spatially Distributed Sensors for GNSS Integrity Monitoring under Unintentional and Deliberate Threats Minhaj Uddin Ahmad, Sagar Dasgupta, Muhammad Sami Irfan, Mizanur Rahman, Mashrur Chowdhury, Thejesh Bandi State departments of transportation (DOTs) in the United States increasingly rely on statewide continuously operating reference station (CORS) networks to support high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based positioning and timing for intelligent transportation systems. These networks also provide continuous observations that can support regional GNSS integrity monitoring. This study develops and demonstrates a framework that treats a statewide CORS network as a spatially distributed sensor system for identifying unintentional (environmental) and intentional (cyber) interference when GNSS measurements deviate from expected spatial patterns. We develop a graph-based Network Consistency Framework (NCF) that evaluates each station against its spatial neighborhood using four metrics: neighborhood residual, spatial gradient, residual, and graph smoothness. These metrics are combined into a Network Consistency Index (NCI). The framework is demonstrated using two consecutive days of four-constellation observations from 50 stations in the Alabama DOT-maintained CORS network, using changes in vertical total electron content ({\Delta}VTEC) and the Rate of TEC Index (ROTI) as spatially coherent observables. The framework quantified network-wide spatial consistency and identified localized anomalies. Detected anomalies indicate stations whose observations deviated from the surrounding regional network, signaling potential integrity issues. Determining whether anomalies result from receiver faults, localized interference, spoofing, or other causes requires further investigation. This study introduces statewide CORS networks as regional GNSS integrity observatories and presents the NCF and NCI for graph-based spatial integrity monitoring. Transportation agencies can implement the framework using existing CORS observations to monitor network integrity and identify localized anomalies. Comments: Submitted to TRBAM 2027 Subjects: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Signal Processing (eess.SP); Space Physics (physics.space-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2608.08831 [cs.CR]   (or arXiv:2608.08831v1 [cs.CR] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.08831 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Minhaj Uddin Ahmad [view email] [v1] Sun, 9 Aug 2026 17:30:28 UTC (677 KB) Access Paper: HTML (experimental) view license Current browse context: cs.CR < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cs eess eess.SP physics physics.space-ph References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)