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 at Mānoa project.
The project, led by UH Mānoa Department of Physics and Astronomy Chair and Professor Veronica Bindi, will measure the most powerful particles in space through a new Haleakalā Neutron Monitor Station (HLEA) on Maui and a space weather station on Oʻahu.
"Before going hiking or surfing, you usually want to check the weather," Bindi said. "The same goes for when you're in space. You want to make sure astronauts, instruments and other assets are safe from harmful, inclement solar weather."
The project is supported by a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation .
Upcoming solar maximum
Initially targeted for completion in 2025, Bindi and her team expedited their efforts to launch the HLEA 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's 11-year solar cycle, a solar maximum marks the period when the Sun is most active.
Upon reaching the Earth's 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.
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.
"With today's 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 and financial transactions to a lot of our infrastructure depends on satellites and other technologies in space."
As the newest of approximately 50 ground neutron monitor stations around the world and the only one in the Pacific Ocean, HLEA will provide groundbreaking new data by filling a wide gap in the global neutron monitor network between Mexico and Thailand.
For more on HLEA, see this Noelo story . Noelo is UH's research magazine from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation .
The post Advancing space weather forecasts ahead of 2025 solar maximum first appeared on University of Hawaiʻi System News .
