- Power systems: Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid.
- Spacecraft operations: May experience surface charging and tracking problems, corrections may be needed for orientation problems.
- Other systems: Induced pipeline currents affect preventive measures, HF radio propagation sporadic, satellite navigation degraded for hours, low-frequency radio navigation disrupted, and aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.).
Yeah, there's usually no ill effects reported even from pretty strong ones, but lights in Stockholm, Sweden (which is itself pretty far south for an aurora in the first place) were reported to flicker earlier this evening. That's pretty remarkable.
I'm not sure if Sweden has similar data, but on one of the UK grid data sites [0] it shows large fluctuations in demand and gas generation supply in the late evening hours. However it's easy to say "that looks odd" while being naive on anything else going on with the grid such as planned maintenance, demands or other issues.
It's funny. Had one halogen lamp flicker around 9pm but even though I knew about the eminent events, my first thoughts were 'power failure or lamp at end of life?'
There's reports of Aurora's in Puerto Rico. Last time they were seen this far south was 103 years ago.
This is a new excerpt from the news station "Primera Hora"
> "Por Primera Hora. 11 de mayo de 2024 • 7:53am. Las aurora borales que decoraron el cielo anoche se lograron ver en Puerto Rico, fenómeno que no se veía en la Isla desde hace 103 años"
English Translation:
>"For First Hour. May 11, 2024 • 7:53am. The northern lights that decorated the sky last night were seen in Puerto Rico, a phenomenon that had not been seen on the Island for 103 years"
According to the SWPC[0], the "SPACE WEATHER CONDITIONS" section displays the pertinent information: as of 5/10/2024 at 6:00 CST, the "24-Hour Observed Maximums" list "R3 S2 G4". The "Latest Observed" section shows "R1 S1 G4".
According to NOAA Space Weather Scales [1], the effects of those events, their levels, and the corresponding hazards (including biological risks for the "S" category) are listed.
It is unclear to me what "high-flying" and "high latitudes"
mean in these cases, and I would think that they would depend on the severity and location of the space weather event.
In general, not related to this event, anything over FL410 (roughly 41,000ft) and closer to the pole than 70 degrees latitude would be considered high altitude and high latitude in the aviation world.
Above FL410 is rare, except for business jets that can cruise that high. It comes with extra requirements on oxygen masks etc.
Polar routes are not that rare, but depend on certification how far away from a suitable airport you can go.
Nothing consequential for a single flight. Even crew really don't have to worry about it until it gets to very high levels, according to the NOAA scales
FWIW I'm an aircraft mechanic and the only complaint I've ever heard related to solar storms was that the HF radio stopped working. Which isn't a radio thats going to be used or even installed on a typical airliner.
Although it could also disrupt satellite communication causing some delays in flight planning and aircraft/crew turnaround.
For a fun anecdote, when the HF radio fault was reported we weren't aware of the troubles in the ionosphere. After a few hours of troubleshooting on the system and not finding any problems I flippantly remarked that it must've been a solar flare because the radios perfect. 15 minutes later I was reading the news and saw the headline.
HF is installed on many airliners, it's mandatory for the North Atlantic routes between the US and Europe. Still checked every flight as a backup to satellite position reporting (which is relatively new)
You can look at the current activity charts and extrapolate from the particle flux, but it's likely going to be below 1mSv for a 6 hour flight. The XKCD radiation chart provides the most sensible comparison for most people I think:
- Power systems: Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid.
- Spacecraft operations: May experience surface charging and tracking problems, corrections may be needed for orientation problems.
- Other systems: Induced pipeline currents affect preventive measures, HF radio propagation sporadic, satellite navigation degraded for hours, low-frequency radio navigation disrupted, and aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.).
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/