NASA has created a computer model that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and satellite data to help sound the alarm when dangerous space weather strikes, just like how tornado sirens alert people of storms in America’s Midwest region.
Scientists have created an AI-based model that can detect when a solar storm is coming. The model uses data taken from space to warn us before the storm hits Earth, giving us about half an hour of advance notice. This warning gives us enough time to prepare and make sure we don’t experience damaging effects on our power grids and other important stuff.
The solar wind is a powerful stream of material that continuously comes from the Sun, carrying its magnetic field far away. It’s not as dense as the wind on Earth but it moves much faster, up to two million mph! The solar wind is made up of electrons and particles made of ions (atoms with electric charges). All this interacts with the Sun’s magnetic field and creates an area called the ‘heliosphere’: the region around the Sun in outer space.
The Sun is constantly sending out material into space, both in a steady stream and in bigger bursts. When this stuff from the Sun hits Earth’s special magnetic layer (the “magnetosphere”), it can cause something called geomagnetic storms. These storms can be mild, or really strong, but their effects are becoming worse and worse because our world depends on technology so much.
Back in 1989, a big solar storm caused all the lights to go off across Quebec for 12 hours! People couldn’t use phones or computers and schools and businesses had to close. But that was nothing compared to what happened in 1859 – this was the biggest solar storm ever recorded – it caused fires in telegraph stations and no one could send messages. If something like that happened today, we’d experience far worse problems. Like long blackouts, damage to technology, and global communication completely cut off. That could be really bad for everyone around the world because our economy depends on using technology!
Right now, the chances of bad things happening like geomagnetic storms are increasing. This is because in 2025 we will hit a peak in something called the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle.
NASA captured two explosions on the sun called coronal mass ejections. These blasts blasted particles into space, which made the camera look like it was snowing. This caused a big blackout in Sweden and other disruptions to things like communication and transportation, including SOHO (NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). The white circle represents the size and location of the sun while the black disc blocks light from the sun so we can see more faint details around it. Credit: NASA/ESA
A bunch of scientists from NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Department of Energy have teamed up to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to figure out how things like solar wind can disrupt technology on Earth. They used a type of AI called “deep learning” which teaches computers to find patterns based on past examples. This way they could better spot connections between sun-related measurements taken by spacecrafts like ACE, Wind, IMP-8, and Geotail and disturbances in our planet’s magnetic field seen at ground stations around the world.
Scientists recently built a computer model called DAGGER which can forecast geomagnetic storms all over the world about 30 minutes before they happen! This powerful program produces predictions in just a second and even updates it each minute.
The DAGGER team tested their model by using data from two different storms – one in August 2011 and another in March 2015. The model was able to successfully predict what would happen to the planet due to these storms.
AI is now being used to make more exact local forecasts about the Earth’s magnetic force for specific areas. Previous models didn’t require AI and could give global predictions, but they weren’t very quick. DAGGER is a new kind of model that takes real measurements from space and around Earth and then combines them with the quick results from AI. This way, worldwide predictions can be made much faster and more accurate.
A new kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been developed that can figures out the effects of a solar storm quickly and accurately. This AI could help protect us by helping us make the right decisions when a solar storm happens and can keep us from being hurt too much or even completely prevent damage from occurring. Vishal Upendran from the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in India is the one who led this research on the AI, which is called DAGGER model, and it was presented in a paper published in Space Weather journal.
The computer code in the DAGGER model can be used by anyone and Upendran said it could be useful to protect power grids, satellite systems, telecommunications companies, and other types of technology. This would give them time to react when a solar storm is coming, like turning off systems that are sensitive or moving satellites around so they don’t get damaged.
Thanks to DAGGER, one day in the future there will be special sirens that sound an alarm when a solar storm is coming. It will be like how tornado sirens warn towns and cities across America about bad weather!
This is a scientific research article that looks into interesting topics like forecasting dengue in cities by using street-view images and how artificial intelligence can be used to help people with glaucoma. That’s why it was published on May 19, 2022 in Space Weather magazine.
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