Space Weather Enterprise Forum 2012

[weakmagneto]

Solar Maximum 2013 - How Space Weather Will Affect You!
June 5, 2012, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The Forum
The Space Weather Enterprise Forum brings together the space weather community to share information and ideas among policymakers, senior government leaders, researchers, service- provider agencies, private-sector service providers, space weather information users, media, and legislators and staff from Capitol Hill to raise awareness of space weather and its effects on society. This year, we will continue this outreach but will sharpen the focus on critical infrastructure protection, with the necessary underpinnings of research, improved products and services, and applications to serve a broad and growing user community. Our ultimate goal is to improve the Nation’s ability to prepare for, avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the potentially devastating impacts of space weather events on our health, economy, and national security.

http://www.nswp.gov/swef/swef_2012.html

[Marshall]

Hi Magneto,

The solar maximum (flares, sunspots, spacecraft exposed to radiation, northern lights) is predicted to peak February 2013.

This peak comes along every 11 years or so. We are already in a hump, just hasn't peaked yet. And this time it is not especially strong. So unless you operate communication satellites or other sensitive stuff outside the earth atmosphere it probably does not concern you.

However Ham radio operators and many other people will be aware, and it is interesting. Here is a chart:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar-cycle-data.png

Here is the wiki article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_maximum

Here is a NASA prediction
http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml

The NASA folks actually predict that the 2013 peak will be especially MILD!

So people who love to watch the Northern Lights during a solar storm are apt to be disappointed this time.
Back in 1859, for comparison, the Northern Lights were visible as far south as Rome. Must have been splendid in northern Europe.

[weakmagneto]

Thanks for the information, Marshall! :) The 1859 reference was the Carrington event, correct? The largest known and documented solar flare event to impact Earth. My concern would be for our aging electricity infrastructure, here in Canada. In 1989, a solar storm caused a blackout here in Canada (link below).

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/featur ... kness.html

[Marshall]

Magneto, thanks for info that was entirely new to me! I hadn't seen your Space Weather post in Astro/Cosmo forum. viewtopic.php?p=205103#p205103
Until reading it just now, I didn't realize you had specialized knowledge of solar flare effects, what goes on during one, and some history. Plus as Canadian a direct concern. I did not know about the 1989 power outage.

Since I live at a lower latitude (SF Bay area) where the magnetic field lines provide some shelter from charged particles I tend not to know or be concerned about stuff buzzing about in the upper atmosphere.