Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA Measures Impact of Huge Solar Flare on Earth's Atmosphere
by Michael Finneran for NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA (SPX) Mar 27, 2012


A surge of infrared radiation from nitric oxide molecules on March 8-10, 2012, signals the biggest upper-atmospheric heating event in seven years. Credit: NASA/SABER, TIMED.

A key NASA instrument that can directly measure the impact of solar events on the Earth's upper atmosphere has weighed in on the huge flare that impacted Earth last week.

The flare was considered one of the largest solar events in years even though its impact on the power grid and communications was minimal due to the angle it hit Earth.

Its direct interaction with the upper atmosphere was measured by NASA's SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument orbiting on the TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics) satellite.

The upper atmosphere heated up, and huge spikes occurred in infrared emission from nitric oxide and carbon dioxide, said Marty Mlynczak, SABER's associate-principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

Sol 'waking up'
"It's been seven years since we've had a storm like that," he said. "This is the first major storm event since the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009. We are finally seeing the Sun 'wake up' as it proceeds to the next solar maximum."

A solar maximum is a period of increased activity on the Sun, and minimum-to-maximum-to-minimum cycles generally last 11 years each. Solar activity began to pick up in 2010, is steadily increasing and should peak in late 2014.

As the Sun becomes more active, Mlynczak said, it emits more ultraviolet radiation and produces more solar flares - coronal mass ejections (CMEs) - which are absorbed in the atmosphere. "More heating results, and the atmosphere gets warmer, and the infrared emission increases," he said.

"We don't know yet how these affect weather or climate - likely there is not any direct effect," he said, "but there may be, over time, influences on ozone that affect climate."

"These results are very timely," said James Russell, SABER's principal investigator at Hampton University in Hampton, Va. "SABER is cataloging the atmospheric response to solar forcing and is providing a solid baseline for examining long-term changes in the climatology of the upper atmosphere."

"The data set is a vital resource for study of atmospheric trends, for validating atmospheric models of the region, and for evaluating our understanding of solar/atmosphere coupling, he said.

Unique Record
SABER is one of four instruments on the TIMED spacecraft launched in December 2001. TIMED studies the Earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere, the least explored and least understood region of our atmosphere.

"SABER has a unique, continuous record of over 3,700 days observation of the climate and energy balance of the Earth's upper and outer atmosphere," Mlynczak said.

"From this, we are learning with each event how sensitive this region of the Earth's atmosphere is to short- and long-term variability of the Sun," he said. "We have documented the decline of the prior solar cycle, the deep minimum and the 'ground state' of the atmosphere during that time, and are now seeing the uptick."

TIMED was designed to operate for two years but has operated flawlessly for more than 10 years. Another NASA review is planned in 2013 to determine if SABER will continue operating for at least three more years.

"This is well before the predicted solar maximum," Mlynczak said. There are no other measurements like it, and the entire SABER science team is working hard to make the scientific case to keep the mission operating."

Partners in the SABER mission include Hampton University in Hampton, Va.; Science Systems and Applications, Inc.; GATS Inc.; NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory built SABER.

.


Related Links
Hampton University SABER
TIMED at APL
Solar Science News at SpaceDaily






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SOLAR SCIENCE
Space Observations of Mercury Transits Yield Precise Solar Radius
Manoa HI (SPX) Mar 27, 2012
A group of scientists from Hawaii, Brazil and California has measured the diameter of the Sun with unprecedented accuracy by using a spacecraft to time the transits of the planet Mercury across the face of the Sun in 2003 and 2006. They measured the Sun's radius as 696,342 km (432,687 miles) with an uncertainty of only 65 km (40 miles). This was achieved by using the solar telescope aboard ... read more


SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA's Grail MoonKam Returns First Student-Selected Lunar Images

Ecliptic "MoonKAM" Systems Begin Operations in Lunar Orbit

Two New NASA LRO Videos: See Moon's Evolution, Take a Tour

China to get lunar soil

SOLAR SCIENCE
A glow in the Martian night throws light on atmospheric circulation

Mars Science Laboratory Adjusts Orbital Path And Tests Instruments

Geologists discover new class of landform - on Mars

Red Food For the Red Planet

SOLAR SCIENCE
Not your average heat shield

NASA Seeks Space Launch System Advanced Development Solutions

Patent requests in Europe reach record in 2011

SciTechTalk: Can long space missions work?

SOLAR SCIENCE
China's Lunar Docking

Shenzhou-9 may take female astronaut to space

China to launch 100 satellites during 2011-15

Three for Tiangong

SOLAR SCIENCE
ESA Cargo Ship Carries Research and Technology Investigations to ISS

Japan Shares ISS SMILES via Atmospheric Data Distribution

ATV Edoardo Amaldi set for liftoff

Astrium: double delivery for ATV-3 Edoardo Amaldi launch

SOLAR SCIENCE
ILS Proton Launches Intelsat 22

US ramping up private sector's role in spaceflight

Europe's smart supply ship on its way to Space Station

Third Ariane 5 ready for launch in 2012

SOLAR SCIENCE
Runaway Planets Zoom at a Fraction of Light-Speed

Some orbits more popular than others in solar systems

Herschel's new view on giant planet formation

Kepler Statistical Analysis Suggests Earthlike Planets Extremely Rare

SOLAR SCIENCE
Russia to Focus on Its Orbital Cluster - Popovkin

Materials inspired by Mother Nature: A 1-pound boat that could float 1,000 pounds

Soviet Weather Satellite to Fall to Earth

Boeing Receives Phased Array Antenna System Contract from Yahsat




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement