The Northern Lights by Tom Kerss

Author:Tom Kerss [Kerss, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Powerful geomagnetic storms pose indirect risks to us. They induce strong currents in the ground, which are readily conveyed by cables forming our electrical grids. Huge surges can saturate the cores of transformers and possibly destroy them. On a large enough scale, a sufficiently intense event could deprive many millions of people of electricity for a long time. In practice, this has not been tested, because the largest storms (or superstorms) on record occurred before we became so reliant on electrical infrastructure. Storms also threaten satellites and their communications. For example, the increased number of high-energy particles raise the risk of hardware or software errors as some of them penetrate the spacecraft shielding and strike microchips. As components have miniaturised through technological advancement, the relative effect of high-energy particle strikes has grown. Alternatively, the flurry of ions striking a spacecraft can differentially charge its surface (or components) until electrical discharges arc through them, causing potential damage. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Global Position System (GPS) satellite constellations are prone to signal errors during geomagnetic storms. Sudden changes in the density of the ionosphere affect signal propagation making them appear to twinkle as stars do to the eye. Several approaches to compensate have been developed, but both global position and communications remain sensitive to the space weather environment. A far more visible risk is heating of the upper atmosphere, which occurs when UV auroras brighten. This causes the atmosphere to expand, increasing the drag factor on satellites in low Earth orbit, which causes them to fall back to Earth. In 1979, NASA’s Skylab space station re-entered the atmosphere prematurely due to this phenomenon. To keep large satellites, such as the International Space Station (ISS), at a safe orbital altitude, they must be periodically ‘boosted’ up with a rocket burn. Forecasting high geomagnetic activity allows us to minimise damage by temporarily disabling or disconnecting potentially vulnerable systems.

Storm-force auroras are an astonishing sight at polar latitudes

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