Possible Geomagnetic Storm In The Offing

FlyGirl

Member
X-FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected a powerful X1.6-class solar flare (Sept. 10 @ 17:45 UT). The source was active sunspot AR2158, which is directly facing Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash. Ionizing radiation from the flare could cause HF radio blackouts and other communications disturbances, especially on the day-lit side of Earth. In the next few hours we will see if a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) emerges from the blast site. If so, the cloud would likely be aimed directly at Earth and could reach our planet in 2 to 3 days. Stay tuned for updates about geomagnetic storms in the offing.

Fly careful!
 



SoCal Blur

Member
It's a good thing that most of us fly with radios in the UHF band which is less negatively affected. However, GPS satelites could be disruppted so if you fly in that mode, pay careful attention.
 


FlyGirl

Member

Pretty quiet right now.... Here's the latest.

Updated: Radio emissions from shock waves at the leading edge of the CME indicate that the cloud tore through the sun's atmosphere at speeds as high as 3,750 km/s. By the time it left the sun's atmosphere, however, the cloud had decellerated to 1,400 km/s. This makes it a fairly typical CME instead of a "super CME" as the higher speed might suggest.​
Even with a downgrade in speed, this CME has the potential to trigger significant geomagnetic activity when it reaches Earth's magnetic field during the mid-to-late hours of Sept. 12th. NOAA forecasters estimate an almost-80% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Sept. 12-13.​
 

gtranquilla

RadioActive
According to HAM radio theory and some related Amateur radio magazine articles the GPS position accuracy is also dependent on atmospheric factors. Apparently changes to the upper atmosphere due to ionization resulting from solar storms affects each GPS satellite rf signal angle/and or speed making it much more difficult and sometimes impossible for your GPS receiver to correlate correct surface position(s).

It's a good thing that most of us fly with radios in the UHF band which is less negatively affected. However, GPS satelites could be disruppted so if you fly in that mode, pay careful attention.
 

SoCal Blur

Member
According to HAM radio theory and some related Amateur radio magazine articles the GPS position accuracy is also dependent on atmospheric factors. Apparently changes to the upper atmosphere due to ionization resulting from solar storms affects each GPS satellite rf signal angle/and or speed making it much more difficult and sometimes impossible for your GPS receiver to correlate correct surface position(s).

Precisely. Speaking as an Amateur Radio Operator (HAM), I concur
 

Vojec

Member
Has anyone flown a lady in the solar storm these days in GPS mode? Could not determine if affected also in ATI mode?
 




kloner

Aerial DP
i was just saying on cooters chart we were getting hammered.... i didn't have any problems, but i purposely didn't used any gps modes. my neck is overly burned though, do the solar flares make ya burn better??
 

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