Space Weather -  

 

SDO-NASA and the [AIA, EVE, and/or HMI] consortium.   Primer on Space Weather

Current Sunspots

Current Sun
NASA/SOHO 		Sunspots last 30 days
  • Sunspots are solar magnetic storms. The spots appear darker because the temperature of the spots are lower than the surrounding photosphere.
  • They serve as a reservoir for solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which cause Aurorae, power/communication outages, and satellite anomalies.
  • The Sun's activity waxes and wanes in an 11-year sunspot cycle; Solar Minimum is when the number of sunspots are lowest.
  • There seems to be a correlation between Solar Min/Maximum and Earth's weather. The extent to which Ozone, stratospheric winds, global circulation patterns, and cloud seeding are all affected are still being studied.

Sunspot graph courtesy: Newquay Weather


X-RAY and PLANETARY INDICES
X-Ray Flux Planetary K Index
GOES Xray Flux (left plot) shows the last 3 days of 5-minute Solar X-ray Flux values; storms causing radio blackouts. When spikes occur, match the left side (Watts m^2) of 10^5 through 10^2, and right side M or X with the Radio Blackouts-Physical Measure column in the Space Wx Warning Scale.
eg. An Xray Flux of around 10^3 in the X20 range (very top plot w/out a value in the right side) is indicative of an EXTREME (R5) event-radio blackout on the entire sunlit side of Earth lasting for a number of hours.
Planetary K Index (right plot) represents current geomagnetic storm activity. When spikes occur, match the left side scale (Kp value) of 5 through 9 (<5 not an event) w/ the Geomagnetic Storm - Physical Measure column in the Space Wx Warning Scale.
eg. A Kp 7 event is a STRONG (G3) event-HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon.
Direction, Angle, and Magnitude of the Solar Wind can be determined using the dials below.
The Kp Index can also help determine viewing of aurora.
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD
Current Magnetosphere



This plot shows the current extent and position of the auroral oval in the northern hemisphere, during the most recent NOAA POES satellite pass.

The red arrow in the plot, that looks like a clock hand, points toward the noon meridian.

The power fluxes are color coded on a scale from 0 to 10 ergs .cm-2.sec-1 according to the color bar on the right. The pattern has been oriented with respect to the underlying geographic map using the current UTC time, updated every ten minutes.



Solar Activity Monitor

The monitor in the page heading provides a textual status of X-ray activity and refers to the X-Ray Flux graph at the top of the page.
NORMAL Solar X-ray flux is quiet (<1.00e-6 W/m^2).
ACTIVE Solar X-ray flux is active (>= 1.00e-6 W/m^2).
M CLASS FLARE An M Class Solar Flare has occurred (>= 1.00e-5 W/m^2).
X CLASS FLARE An X Class Solar Flare has occurred (>= 1.00e-4 W/m^2).
MEGA FLARE An unprecedented X-ray event has occurred (>= 1.00e-3 W/m^2).