space weather

space weather, conditions in space caused by the Sun that can affect satellites and technology on Earth as well as human life and health. As modern civilization has become more dependent on continent-sized electric power distribution grids, global satellite communication and navigation systems, and military and civilian satellite imaging, it has become more susceptible to the effects of space weather.

Space weather phenomena

Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field that extends far out into space in a teardrop-shaped cavity called the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is compressed on the dayside and stretched out into a long “magnetotail” on the nightside by interaction with the solar wind. The solar wind is a flux of charged particles that flows at supersonic velocity from the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) and carries with it the solar magnetic field. The solar wind and solar magnetic field (named the interplanetary magnetic field [IMF] when it is observed away from the Sun) expand throughout the entire solar system, extending to more than three times the distance of Neptune’s orbit before the solar wind is slowed by the interstellar medium. The cavity that contains the solar wind and the IMF is called the heliosphere; it is analogous to Earth’s magnetosphere.

As can be seen from the description above, humanity lives within the region affected by the dynamic atmosphere of the Sun. The most visible manifestation of the interaction of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and Earth’s space magnetospheric environment is the aurora. The aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora australis, or southern lights, in the Southern Hemisphere are visible light emissions caused by the collision of charged particles (ions and electrons) from the solar wind with the upper atmosphere of Earth. Auroral emissions typically occur at altitudes of about 100 km (60 miles) and are often green, white, or reddish in colour depending on what species (atomic oxygen, molecular oxygen, or nitrogen, respectively) is primarily emitting light. The auroras appear in oval regions near the North and South Poles owing to the influence of Earth’s dipole magnetic field. Charged particles from space easily move along geomagnetic field lines and intercept the upper atmosphere at high latitudes (that is, toward the poles) because that is where the field lines originate. The energy responsible for accelerating charged particles into the polar regions comes from the interaction of the magnetized solar wind flowing by Earth’s magnetic field. This interaction can lead to large disturbances of Earth’s magnetosphere called geomagnetic storms, which are the main manifestation of severe space weather.

The amount of energy, mass, and momentum flowing from the Sun through the heliosphere and into Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere is variable over a number of timescales. Chief among these timescales is the 11-year solar cycle, defined by the waxing and waning of solar activity as seen in the number of sunspots. Within the solar cycle, solar storms such as flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are most numerous within a several-year period known as the solar maximum. Between solar maxima there is a several-year period, called the solar minimum, when the Sun’s activity can be extremely low. The solar minimum that began in approximately 2007 and reached its lowest point in December 2008 was the deepest minimum in at least a century. The next solar maximum is expected to begin in 2013.

The primary physical mechanism responsible for much of this energy, mass, and momentum flow is magnetic reconnection, which can explosively convert magnetic energy into kinetic energy of the magnetospheric plasma and disconnect or break parcels of magnetic flux. On Earth’s dayside, magnetic reconnection takes place at the intersection of solar magnetic field lines with those of Earth’s magnetic field. In this process, solar plasma can enter Earth’s magnetosphere, where the plasma is accelerated and energized. On Earth’s nightside, magnetic reconnection happens in the magnetotail, where magnetic flux tubes originally disconnected on the dayside are reconnected. Electric currents are one way that this energy from magnetic reconnection is carried through the system. These currents can connect regions of the magnetosphere through Earth’s ionosphere. The electrical currents flowing in the ionosphere in turn induce voltages and currents in the ground and in long telephone or power transmission lines.

Technological effects

Shortly after the first telegraph wires were strung in the 19th century, geomagnetic storms began to show technological effects. The largest storm on record, which occurred on Sept. 2, 1859, was accompanied by auroras visible in the tropics; it also caused fires as the enhanced electric current flowing through telegraph wires ignited recording tape at telegraph stations. British astronomer Richard Carrington noted the coincidence (but did not claim a direct connection) between the auroras and a solar flare he had observed the day before, thus prefiguring the discipline of space weather research.

During the space age, which began with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the effects of space weather have multiplied. Today many vital technological systems on the ground, in the air, and in space are susceptible to space weather.