Beyond the Lights: How space weather affects the skies and even life on Earth

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, are a staple of Alaskan culture and folklore. But behind the glow of red, purple, and green are solar flares and geomagnetic storms that influence life here on Earth.

Shawn Dahl, senior space forecaster for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, shared how space weather impacts life on Earth and what it all means for Alaskans.

Space weather is being monitored 24/7 by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center based in Boulder, Colorado. This team tracks everything from damage control for NASA launches to solar flares and how it will influence Aurora potential as far north as the Arctic Circle.

Space weather hosts many significant impacts for society outside the complex magnetosphere, including how satellites and navigation technologies are affected.

“Space weather affects our technology primaries,” Dahl said. “So many things regarding satellites in space and how they can decay and burn up in the atmosphere if [they] aren’t accounted for with these storms.”

Solar or geomagnetic storms carry proton and energy particles that have the potential to penetrate human skin. Measuring the number of protons is only part of the equation; it’s important to also understand the energy value and risk they may pose to space technology and also astronauts.

Space weather, though far off into the magnetosphere and beyond, can heavily impact aviation on a local level. When geomagnetic storms kick off, they can affect GPS systems and other resources dependent on satellites.

“The electric power grid is very prone, at least in the lower 48, for these geomagnetic storms that are a result of these space weather events,” Dahl said. “GPS users will find that it’s impossible to use from time to time, especially for precision GPS.”

When flights pass near or through polar regions, the geomagnetic latitude is significantly more susceptible to active space weather than areas in the Lower 48. Flights dependent on GPS precision approaches and navigation may find themselves having to divert as geomagnetic storms cause GPS to be unusable.

Space weather also includes solar radiation storms that create a separate hazard for pilots, such as radiation exposure on aviation instruments.

“Two of the more recent storms, the one around Veteran’s Day several months ago, that storm actually had a solar radiation storm that was pretty significant, and about 30 plus flights actually canceled because they were flying near the polar regions.”

Geomagnetic storms are known to give Alaskans a better chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis. As we descend from solar maximum, periods of increased solar activity are likely.

Solar maximum refers to the solar cycle, as the sun’s magnetic polarities flip roughly every 11 years. This period in the solar cycle is described as “bumpy” as there are spotless periods in the sun where little to no activity occurs, to sudden intense activity taking place.

“One other final thing to remember about a solar cycle is the sun can do anything at any point in time... But it’s really during that maximum that we get the most energetic events.”

Some of the strongest geomagnetic storms that have taken place occurred two and even four years after solar maximums were reached.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com