Natural hazard ‘Space Weather’ under discussion

From October 27 to 31, hundreds of people come together for the 21th European Space Weather Week in Umeå, Sweden to discuss new findings in space weather, which falls in the category ‘Natural Hazard’. 

There is nothing, until it is there.

Space weather and space storms originate from the sun. Space weather describes in essence how a storm grows, moves through space, finally arrives at our doorstep and impacts the planet's magnetic shield and a layer of the atmosphere that is called the ionosphere. The impact on these two planetary systems, the magnetosphere and the ionosphere, become visible as navigation errors, communication failures and damage in power grids. Next to regular communication where a message is sent from person A to person B, communication involves also teleguided systems with vehicles on the ground or in the air receiving instructions on how to move or fly. The most known systems like these are drones.

Space weather is out there, whether we like it or not. The Arctic is an area that needs special attention. Because of the peculiar form of the earth’s magnetic shield, specific solar storms can more easily enter at the poles. It is there where the aurora enlights more often the night sky. 

It is therefore not that crazy, actually, to have Umeå as the setting for the European Space Weather Week.

The local organisation of the 21th European Space Weather Week is jointly done by Umeå University, the Belgian Space Weather Centre (STCE) and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF).