09.02.23 - A machine learning algorithm able to forecast solar storms and issue warnings?

Did you know that solar storms hit our Earth almost constantly? Weak solar storms are responsible for the magnificent auroras that can be seen in the polar regions. However, the strongest of them have a devastating impact on satellites, mobile communications, Internet and power grids. Some have even caused power outages of up to 9 hours (March 1989 in Quebec City)!
 
In the case of GNSS, solar storms (named Coronal Mass Ejections CME) can alter the satellite signals and result in a wrong positioning of the receivers.
 
Could artificial intelligence help predict these solar storms in order to better protect our terrestrial systems? This is what Dr. Andy Smith of Northumbria University will try to determine thanks to a research grant from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
 
By training a machine learning model on nearly 20 years of satellite data, the granted team hope to develop systems to forecast space weather and issue warnings long before the consequences are felt on Earth.
 
A Geo Innovation News from Swiss Territorial Data Lab (STDL)

#solarstorm #machinelearning #spaceforecast #satellitedata

Image : Getty

Source: Artificial intelligence used to predict space weather | Northumbria University, Newcastle