Solar-terrestrial DLR research for society and the economy

Space weather

Coronal mass ejection in June 2013 – a year of heightened solar activity
On 20 June 2013, the Sun erupted with a coronal mass ejection, hurling billions of tonnes of particles into space and towards Earth at a speed of some 2170 kilometres per second.
Image: 1/3, Credit:
NASA/Goddard/SDO

Comparison of solar minimum and maximum
Images in the visible light spectrum from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), showing the appearance of the Sun at solar minimum (left, December 2019) compared to the solar maximum (right, August 2024). Sunspots are associated with solar activity and are used to track the progress of the solar cycle. During the solar minimum, the Sun is often devoid of spots.
Image: 2/3, Credit:
NASA/SDO
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Space weather research
Future missions will study the impact of space weather on Earth’s ionosphere.
Image: 3/3, Credit:
ESA/A. Baker
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Most people check the weather forecast on a daily basis, perhaps through an app on their smartphones in the morning or watching the weather report on TV after the evening news. By contrast, space weather, solar winds and solar storms tend to be more the realm of sci-fi. Yet when solar activity peaks, space weather becomes a feature of people's everyday lives, as in autumn 2024, when the Northern Lights were visible over large parts of Germany and the world. Indeed, just like 'normal' weather – the weather conditions within Earth's atmosphere – space weather can have massive consequences.

Increased solar activity is also forecast for 2025. DLR conducts intensive research into interactions between the Sun and near-Earth space, analyses space weather phenomena and investigates its impact on people, technology and infrastructure, as well as how to mitigate its effect.

Close-up image of a solar mass ejection
This close-up of the Sun from 13 August 2018 shows a burst of charged particles rising and spinning before falling back into the Sun. Emitting light in the extreme ultraviolet range, such events are difficult to detect unless they occur at the edge of the Sun. At its peak, the plasma loop reaches a span several times the diameter of Earth.
Credit:
Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA

From the Sun to Earth

In his General Theory of Terrestrial Magnetism (1838), the famous German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss posited the idea that electrical currents in the atmosphere influence the orientation of a metal compass needle. This is perhaps the oldest known effect of space weather on human-made technology.

Today, space weather research focuses on electrical currents in near-Earth space and their influence on power grids. And even though we rarely navigate using old-fashioned compasses today, even the most modern satellite navigation system is vulnerable to the effects of space weather.

Space weather originates in the Sun, 150 million kilometres from Earth. Just as the seasons are interrupted by occasional storms, the Sun also experiences fluctuations in activity in the form of coronal mass ejections, where plasma is catapulted into space. When the solar plasma reaches Earth's magnetic field, it soon exerts a weather-like effect on the planet's protective electromagnetic shield.

From fundamental research to application – space weather research at DLR

The vast spectrum of processes involved in space weather is the subject of research at the DLR Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics in Neustrelitz. This covers everything from basic research into physical processes, through to application-oriented concepts for reducing the impact on vulnerable technologies. The goal is to protect national infrastructure and support affected industries through timely, accurate and reliable observations and forecasts.

The Institute's work is divided into three key areas: studying solar-terrestrial coupling processes, expanding space weather monitoring and investigating the impact of space weather. The long-term goal is to develop reliable space weather forecasting as a foundation for measures to prevent or limit damage to terrestrial infrastructure.

The DLR Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics also operates the Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center (IMPC), which helps assess space weather hazards. In the future, space weather reports will become a standard tool for ensuring the reliability of satellite navigation systems such as GPS and Galileo.

This topic in focus first explains the causes and effects of space weather – including both eye-catching effects like the Northern Lights and phenomena that can pose a threat to infrastructure, technology and people. It then presents DLR's space weather research, which plays an important role in protecting society and the economy from the effects of increased solar activity on Earth.

Background articles

What's happening on the Sun?

Fuelled by nuclear fusion at its core, the Sun's surface has a temperature of approximately 5500 degrees Celsius. Like all objects, it emits thermal radiation. The human body, for instance, radiates in the long-wave infrared range, which is invisible to the eye but can be detected with equipment such as infrared cameras. A metal wire, for example, starts to glow when heated. Sunlight is scattered by Earth's atmosphere, which is why the Sun appears yellowish from the surface of our planet.

Earth and its magnetic field

Space weather refers to the effects of solar activity – particularly solar storms – throughout the heliosphere, the vast region of space influenced by the Sun, extending out far beyond Pluto. Within this region, charged particles and radiation from the Sun interact with planetary magnetospheres, ionospheres and atmospheres. At Earth, these 'solar-terrestrial coupling processes' are highly complex, making near-Earth space extremely chaotic – justifying the analogy to meteorological weather.

The aurora – a spectacular display in polar skies

The polar regions play a special role in the formation of the Northern Lights due to the shape of Earth's magnetic field. Solar wind particles are deflected between the poles along magnetic field lines, which run parallel to Earth's surface. The particles only hit Earth's atmosphere at high latitudes, where the magnetic field lines run almost perpendicular to the planet's surface.

Impact on people, technology and infrastructure

Extreme space weather events can also damage space infrastructure, particularly satellite-based communication and navigation systems. Space weather can also negatively impact humans in space, for example during future crewed missions to the Moon or Mars.

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Participating DLR institutes and facilities

Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics

German Remote Sensing Data Center DFD

Institute of Atmospheric Physics

Institute of Aerospace Medicine

Institute of Optical Sensor Systems

Institute of Data Science

Institute of Communications and Navigation

Galileo Competence Center

Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center

The Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center (IMPC), developed and operated by DLR, provides a near real-time information and data service on the current state of the ionosphere as well as corresponding forecasts and warnings. As the successor to the established Space Weather Application Center - Ionosphere (SWACI), IMPC now offers significantly improved weather information and forecasts for the ionosphere and also provides the SWACI long-term data archive.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Performance Monitoring

GNSS Performance Monitoring is a unique DLR tool from the Galileo Competence Center that displays and analyses internationally available data from satellite navigation systems in a consistent manner. Both real-time data and long-term archived data are used to visualise and calculate performance parameters. With regard to the effects of space weather on satellite navigation, for example, the website visualises errors in distances from signal delays caused by ionosphere activity and their effects on of GNSS data on maps.

SpaceWeatherLive

The website provides up-to-date information on solar activity and space weather conditions. The website shows real-time data on sunspots, geomagnetic storms and auroras as well as forecasts and diagrams based on satellite measurements.

Space Weather Prediction Center

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Centre monitors space weather and forecasts solar activity, geomagnetic storms and their potential impact on technology and infrastructure.

ESA special

Space weather and its hazards

For our daily lives and routine economic activities on planet Earth, the conditions within the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere are particularly important, as dynamic changes in the environment caused by the Sun and the solar wind can influence the functioning and reliability of spaceborne and ground-based systems and services, thereby potentially endangering human health and wellbeing through impact on this infrastructure.

NASA-Webspecial

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

NASA's SDO mission investigates solar activity and its influence on space weather. By observing the solar atmosphere in high temporal and spatial resolution, SDO contributes to a better understanding of the formation of phenomena such as solar winds, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. This knowledge is crucial for more accurately predicting or mitigating the effects of space weather on Earth and technological systems.

Contact

Philipp Burtscheidt

Senior editor DLR media relations

German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Corporate Communications

Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne

Tel: +49 2203 601-2323

Michael Müller

Editor