{"id":260236,"date":"2023-06-02T19:08:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T17:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260236"},"modified":"2023-06-02T19:08:05","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T17:08:05","slug":"geomagnetic-storms-pump-terawatts-into-the-thermosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260236","title":{"rendered":"Geomagnetic Storms Pump Terawatts into the\u00a0Thermosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By DR.TONY PHILLIPS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 2, 2023:<\/strong> If you\u2019re a satellite, this story is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A series of geomagnetic storms in 2023 has pumped terawatts of energy into Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere, helping to push the temperature and height of Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere to a 20-year high. Air surrounding our planet is touching satellites in low Earth orbit and dragging them down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eBlame the sun,\u201c says Martin Mlynczak of NASA Langley. \u201eIncreasing solar activity is heating the top of the atmosphere. The extra heat has no effect on weather or climate at Earth\u2019s surface, but it\u2019s a big deal for satellites in low Earth orbit.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Above: <\/strong>A severe geomagnetic storm on March 24, 2023, injected more than a terawatt of infrared energy into the thermosphere. Image credit: Michael Underwood in Yellowstone National Park<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mlynczak is an expert on the temperature up there. For 20 years he has been using the SABER instrument on NASA\u2019s TIMED satellite to monitor infrared emissions from \u201ethe thermosphere,\u201c the uppermost layer of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eRight now we\u2019re seeing some of the highest readings in the mission\u2019s 21.5 year history,\u201c he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thermosphere is exquisitely sensitive to solar activity, readily absorbing energy from solar flares and geomagnetic storms. These storms have been coming hard and fast with the recent rise of Solar Cycle 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eThere have been five significant geomagnetic storms in calendar year 2023 that resulted in marked increases in the amount of infrared radiation (heat) in Earth\u2019s thermosphere,\u201c says Mlynczak. \u201eThey peaked on Jan. 15th (0.59 TW), Feb. 16th (0.62 TW), Feb. 27th (0.78 TW), Mar. 24th (1.04 TW), and April 24th (1.02 TW).\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parenthetical values are TeraWatts (1,000,000,000,000 Watts) of infrared power observed by SABER during each storm. The sensor obtains these numbers by measuring infrared radiation emitted from nitric oxide and carbon dioxide molecules in the thermosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eThe two storms exceeding 1 TW are the seventh and eighth strongest storms observed by SABER over the past 21.5 years,\u201c he says. \u201eIt is interesting to note that each successive storm in 2023 is generally stronger than its predecessors.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, it doesn\u2019t take a strong storm to cause problems. In Feb. 2022, a minor geomagnetic storm dumped enough heat into the thermosphere that 40 newly launched Starlink satellites fell out of the sky. SpaceX has since started launching their Starlinks to higher initial altitudes to avoid the growing aerodynamic drag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If current trends continue, the thermosphere will warm even more in 2023 and 2024. This is a matter of concern because Earth\u2019s population of active satellites has tripled since SpaceX started launching Starlinks in 2019. The growing constellation of 4100 Starlinks now provides internet service to more than a million customers. An extreme geomagnetic storm like the Halloween Storms of 2003 could shift the positions of these satellites by many 10s of kilometers, increasing the risk of collisions and causing some of the lower ones to de-orbit. Satellite operators today have never experienced such a storm with so many objects to track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned as the warming continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A series of geomagnetic storms in 2023 has pumped terawatts of energy into Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere, helping to push the temperature and height of Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere to a 20-year high. Air surrounding our planet is touching satellites in low Earth orbit and dragging them down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":260240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819904,691819903,691819905],"class_list":["post-260236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-earths-upper-atmosphere","tag-geomagnetic-storms","tag-terawatts","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0yellowstone-1.webp?fit=1024%2C580&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-15Hm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":260970,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260970","url_meta":{"origin":260236,"position":0},"title":"Thermosphere is Cooling, Bad for Satellites. 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