{"id":205594,"date":"2024-10-28T14:41:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T00:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=205594"},"modified":"2024-10-28T14:41:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T00:41:00","slug":"advancing-space-weather-forecasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/10\/28\/advancing-space-weather-forecasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing space weather forecasts ahead of 2025 solar maximum"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"people<\/p>\n

Enhancing our understanding and predictions of space weather patterns that pose significant risks in space and on Earth, especially in preparation of high solar activity forecasted in 2025, is the focus of a University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa project.<\/p>\n

The project, led by ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Department of Physics and Astronomy<\/a> Chair and Professor Veronica Bindi, will measure the most powerful particles in space through a new Haleakal\u0101 Neutron Monitor Station (HLEA<\/abbr>) on Maui and a space weather station on Oʻahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"large
Expanded capabilities in space radiation and weather monitoring can better protect valuable space assets like NASA<\/abbr>\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope (Photo credit: NASA<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Before going hiking or surfing, you usually want to check the weather,” Bindi said. “The same goes for when you\u2019re in space. You want to make sure astronauts, instruments and other assets are safe from harmful, inclement solar weather.”<\/p>\n

The project is supported by a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Upcoming solar maximum<\/h2>\n

Initially targeted for completion in 2025, Bindi and her team expedited their efforts to launch the HLEA<\/abbr> and space monitoring center in 2024 in order to collect data from the impending solar maximum of Solar Cycle 25, initially forecasted for 2025. Occurring once during the Sun\u2019s 11-year solar cycle, a solar maximum marks the period when the Sun is most active.<\/p>\n

Upon reaching the Earth\u2019s magnetosphere (a magnetic field that protects the planet from harmful solar radiation), coronal mass ejections can trigger geomagnetic storms that can disturb or damage satellites and electrical power grids. They can also corrode gas and other pipelines, and increase radiation exposure risks for commercial and other aircraft flying at high altitudes.<\/p>\n

The strongest solar storm ever recorded, known as the Carrington Event of 1859, wreaked havoc on telecommunications around the world and brought northern lights as far south as Hawaiʻi<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“With today\u2019s heavy reliance on technology, the global impact of a similar solar storm today could be catastrophic and cost billions of dollars,” Bindi said. “Everything from using our phones, laptops, credit cards, GPS<\/abbr> and financial transactions to a lot of our infrastructure depends on satellites and other technologies in space.”<\/p>\n

As the newest of approximately 50 ground neutron monitor stations around the world and the only one in the Pacific Ocean, HLEA<\/abbr> will provide groundbreaking new data by filling a wide gap in the global neutron monitor network between Mexico and Thailand.<\/p>\n

For more on HLEA<\/abbr>, see this Noelo<\/em> story<\/a>. Noelo<\/em> is ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ<\/abbr>\u2019s research magazine from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The project is supported by a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[308,1505,1467,1363,568,124,545,1600,158,174,947],"class_list":["post-205594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-natural-sciences","tag-innovation","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-natural-science","tag-physics","tag-physics-and-astronomy","tag-public-impact-research","tag-publication","tag-space","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205601,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205594\/revisions\/205601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}