Global Time Echoes: Distance-Structured Correlations in GNSS Clocks

Phase-coherent spectral analysis of 62.7 million station-pair measurements from 364 GNSS stations (2023-2025) reveals systematic distance-structured correlations in clock networks. These correlations follow an exponential decay with a median correlation length λ = 3,330-4,549 km (95% CIs: CODE 1,198-5,918 km; IGS 3,197-4,871 km; ESA 2,532-3,984 km) and show strong goodness-of-fit when evaluated on distance-binned means across three independent analysis centres (R² = 0.920-0.970; fits are to bin means, not raw pairs). Cross-center validation, consistent across 12 frequency bands and confirmed through multiple binning schemes and null hypothesis testing, demonstrates these patterns represent persistent empirical correlations not explained by the tested artifacts. The patterns also show dependencies on station elevation and geomagnetic latitude, consistent with theoretical frameworks involving screened scalar fields via continuous Temporal Topology.

The correlations demonstrate systematic coupling with Earth's orbital motion (r = -0.571 to -0.793 across centers), planetary gravitational influences (6 Bonferroni-significant events), Chandler wobble modulation (R² = 0.377-0.471), and systematic diurnal temporal variations with synchronized early morning coherence peaks (Local Solar Time). Comprehensive validation demonstrates 24-61× signal enhancement over randomized controls (z = 15.8-31.9 across 180 null test iterations), with FDR-BH: 203/388 tests (52.3%), Hierarchical EB: 154/388 (39.7%), and Bonferroni: 155/388 (40.0%) surviving multiple-comparison correction across 19 independent validation families. TID exclusion analysis shows 21-23% signal improvement when excluding high-ionosphere periods—the ionosphere suppresses rather than creates the correlation.

The investigation was structured to test predictions from the Temporal Equivalence Principle (TEP) framework, which suggested a correlation length (λ) of 1,000-10,000 km. The full analysis yielded λ = 3,330-4,549 km, a result consistent with this expectation which motivated tests of derived predictions (diurnal, eclipse, and orbital signatures). While multi-center consistency and extensive validation provide a strong basis for these findings, alternative explanations involving sophisticated systematics cannot be fully excluded. Therefore, definitive physical interpretation awaits critical next steps: raw-data analysis, multi-constellation testing, and independent replication. A companion 25-year confirmatory analysis using CODE data is presented at https://matthewsmawfield.github.io/TEP-GNSS-II/.

Website: https://mlsmawfield.com/tep/gnss/
Code Availability: https://github.com/matthewsmawfield/TEP-GNSS

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17127229

Keywords: temporal equivalence principle – GNSS – atomic clocks – spatial correlations – modified gravity – Temporal Topology – CODE – IGS – ESA

Open Science Statement: This work is a preprint and is open to community review, ideas, and collaboration. All materials required for full reproducibility—including data downloads, analysis scripts, code, and manuscripts—are open-source. Feedback and contributions to further test these results are welcome.