The Sun is constantly spewing charged material into space, both in a steady stream known as the “Solar wind” and in shorter, more energetic bursts from solar flares. When these particles hit the Earth’s magnetic environment (“magnetosphere”), they can sometimes create geomagnetic storms. The effects of these magnetic storms can range from mild to extreme, but in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology, their effects can be devastating.The largest solar storm ever to have occurred hit the Earth in 1859. The Solar Storm of 1859, also known as the Carrington Event, brought down the entire European and North American telegraph system. The auroras/auroras in many parts of the world were so bright that people could read newspapers at night. If a Carrington-scale event occurs today, it will paralyze a wide variety of modern technologies, from power grids to satellites, and could even bring global communications to a halt. In fact, such large storms can even damage computer hardware such as RAM and SSD.
Weather forecast from NASA
A new model developed by NASA will use artificial intelligence to analyze spacecraft measurements of the Solar wind and predict where an approaching Solar storm will strike anywhere on Earth with 30 minutes’ advance warning. This can provide ample time to prepare for storms and prevent serious impacts on power grids and other critical infrastructures.
According to NASA, the risk of geomagnetic storms and their devastating effects on our society increases as the Sun approaches its next “solar maximum” in its 11-year activity cycle, which is expected to reach by 2025. To minimize these effects, an international research team working at the Frontier Development Lab created a model that uses artificial intelligence (AI).
Solar storm will be predicted 30 minutes in advance
Based on this, DAGGER (Deep Learning Geomagnetic Perturbation) was developed, which can quickly and accurately predict Earth-wide geomagnetic perturbations 30 minutes before they occur. According to the team, the model can generate predictions in less than a second, and the predictions are updated every minute.
The DAGGER team tested the model against two geomagnetic storms that occurred in August 2011 and March 2015. In both cases, DAGGER was able to quickly and accurately predict the storm’s effects on the world. Previous forecasting models used artificial intelligence to generate local geomagnetic forecasts for specific locations on Earth. In the meantime, let’s point out that the model is open source and companies can use DAGGER to protect themselves. Finally, let’s say that solar storms can disrupt satellite systems, power grids and other technological infrastructures.
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