Observations and Modeling of Space Weather Impacts on the Earth

COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited

Abstract

``Space weather'' refers to conditions in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere, that influence space-borne and ground-based technological systems and can endanger human space exploration. These effects are caused by variations in solar photon and particle radiation due to flares and coronal mass ejections, and changes in the solar/interplanetary magnetic field, that impact the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Space weather can initiate satellite failures, interfere with radio communications, cause navigation errors, disrupt electrical power distribution systems, and expose astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation. Mitigation requires both a better understanding of the space environment, and developing the ability to forecast conditions in space. The development of first-principles numerical models of the solar-terrestrial system gives us insight into the causes and nature of these phenomena, and holds the promise of ultimately being able to acquire a short-term predictive capability for some of them. This presentation will describe what we do and don't understand about the basic physics behind space weather, discuss some of its aspects and effects, and describe the latest observational and modeling efforts

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Authors

  • Stanley C. Solomon

    University of California and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Rutgers University, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, University of Utah, NASA, Duke University, FMA Research, Colorado State University, Dartmouth University, Idaho State University, Physics Department, Idaho State University, Physics Department, Utah State University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, China, University of California at Riverside, Physics Department, Colorado School of Mines, Physics Department, University of Utah, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, USU, Society of Physics Students, Arizona State University, Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan, LANSCE-LC, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, University of Amsterdam, Chemistry and Physics Dept., Virginia State University, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Chalk River Laboratories, Physics Dept, Oxford University, Physics Dept, Utah State University, Sandia National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, DOE Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories, National Center for Atmospheric Research