Monitoring and Forecasting Space Weather - Video

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• MP4 format
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Narrator

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, fascinate with their beautiful and dramatic displays. The aurora is created as energized particles produced during geomagnetic disturbances interact with the earth’s upper atmosphere.

Solar storms are bursts of radiation from the sun that send energized particles speeding towards earth.  As these particles interact with the earth’s magnetic field, they create geomagneticstorms that can have impacts on technology. Power grids, satellites and communications systems can be disrupted. 

David Boteler

The study of the Earth’s magnetic field is important for Canada because these space weather effects are greatest at high latitudes where we’re located. And Canada is more impacted by these effects than any other country in the world.

Narrator

During geomagnetic storms, airplanes flying over the North pole are sometimes diverted or rerouted to lower altitudes to ensure they do not lose radio communication.

Ionospheric disturbances produced by the geomagnetic storms can interfere with signals from satellites orbiting the earth and can also cause GPS receivers to lose track of their positions.

David Boteler

Part of our work involves providing forecasts and advice to groups such as the power industry and the airline industry and they can then take preventive measures such as reducing loads on the power system or diverting aircraft.

Narrator

NRCan scientists work closely with the Canadian Space Agency, the National Research Council and Canadian universities to understand geomagnetic storms and their effects.  With the help of this science, monitoring and forecasting of geomagnetic storms provides operators of critical infrastructure with essential information to mitigate potential impacts.

Natural Resources Canada’s Geomagnetic Laboratory operates a network of 15 observatories distributed throughout Canada that gather data on the Earth’s geomagnetic field. They also keep a close watch on solar activity to detect eruptions that will impact the Earth.  All This information is used to provide forecasts of space weather.

David Boteler

As our dependence on technology continues to grow so does our need to monitor and forecast space weather. So we’re working on developing specialized forecasts for different client groups such as the airline industry and the power industry so they are better able to mitigate these effects.

For more information, visit the Space Weather Canada Web site at spaceweather.ca.