As unmanned aircraft and airships move increasingly into high altitude (50,000+ ft), endurance (24+ hr) roles, they will become vulnerable to the effects of space weather, specifically that of solar storms. Although solar storms are commonly associated with their impact on satellites, they ...
The storms can bring on ionospheric scintillation, which refers to rapid fluctuations in GNSS signal strength and phase due to localized irregularities in the electron density of the ionosphere resulting from solar activity. Scintillation adversely affects GNSS positioning, particularly around the geomagnetic...
the importance of outward adiabatic transport as a mechanism for causing electron dropouts at geosynchronous orbit; however, study of the pitch angle distributions indicates that other loss mechanisms are also likely to be occurring during these high-speed solar wind stream (HSS)-driven storms. Two...
ESA’s inner Solar System missionsSolar Orbiter,SOHO, andBepiColombowere also caught in the blast of the outburst, providing even more vantage points to study this solar event. “Currently, we live in a golden age of Solar System physics. Radiation detectors aboard planetary missions such as Bep...
The magnitude of such effects is estimated during a global magnetic storm event, and a performance comparison of two survey-grade receivers is conducted. This storm is representative of the activity at solar maximum and several years beyond.
University of Saskatchewan researcher Lindsay Goodwin has developed a new way to measure the impact of solar activity on the ionosphere as indicated by northern lights and geomagnetic storms. The ionosphere is the upper part of the atmosphere. ...
We present simulation results from the self-consistently coupled SAMI3/RCM code on the impact of large geomagnetic storms on the ionosphere. We consider the 13 January 1988 storm as a test case; we present and compare results based on solar wind data and the predictive Chen CME model as inpu...
Dust storms affect the primary productivity of the ocean by providing necessary micronutrients to the surface layer. One such dust storm during March 2012 led to a substantial reduction in visibility and enhancement in aerosol optical depth (AOD) up to ~ 0.8 (AOD increased from 0.1 to 0.9) ...
A Starlink satellite's lifespan can also be cut short by powerful geomagnetic storms. On Feb. 3, 2022, aSpaceXFalcon 9 rocket made a routine and successful launch of49 Starlink satellitesfrom NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But only a day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth pus...
Solar projects in the Arabian Peninsula faced challenges as low pressure drove southeasterly winds which brought increased humidity, clouds, and occasional rain. The associated atmospheric instability delivered strong winds, increasing potential for sand and dust storms, as was seen at the end of the...