Peotone Weather

Current Space Weather

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NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory




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

Current Sunspot Activity
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

Current Sunspots
Solar Storms

Solar Radiation Solar Radiation Storms: The Proton Flux shows the last 3 days of data for the most dangerous part of a Solar Storm; Solar Radiation.

Note the left side Particles value of 101 through 105 MeV for the red band, and the duration of the storm. Match with the
Solar Radiation Storm column in the scale.
Solar Storm Index Radio Blackouts: This plot shows the last 3 days of Solar X-ray values for the part of Solar Storms causing radio blackouts.

Note the left side (W/m2) of 10-5 through 10-2 and note the right side M or X. Match with Radio Blackouts column in the
scale.  Affected Freqs

eg. An Xray Flux of 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.

Geomagnetic Storm Index Geomagnetic Storms This plot shows Geomagnetic Storm strength. Note the left side Kp value of 5 through 9 (<5 not an event) and duration. Match with the Geomagnetic Storm column in the scale.

eg. A Kp 7 event is a STRONG (G3) event-HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora have been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon.
Direction, Angle, and Magnitude of the Solar Wind can be determined using the dials below.


Interplanetary Magnetic Field

Magnetosphere Graphic

This Image Illustrates Solar Wind pressure on Earth's Magnetosphere.
Current Solar Wind Prediction

     

IMF Dials courtesy: MMS at Rice


These plots show real time Aurora Forecasts.







Radio Propogation


Radio Map
IPS Space Weather


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).


Script courtesy of: Lee from MadALwx.
Graph base code courtesy of: jpGraph.