{"id":3334,"date":"2024-09-05T23:04:24","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.kint.cz\/?p=3334"},"modified":"2025-06-04T19:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:23:00","slug":"solar-physics-and-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/solar-physics-and-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar physics and safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Solar physics and safety<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Solar physics, or the physics of the Sun, focuses on the study and description of stars, including their structure and behavior. It directly influences security fields, as demonstrated by the examples provided at the end of this article. The following information has been sourced from the following references:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If you are interested in more articles on physics and security, follow our section Physics and Security \u2013 KINT S.r.o.<\/a><\/p> \n

Solar physics can be divided into the following areas:<\/p> \n

\u2013 general description of the Sun as a star,<\/p> \n

\u2013 internal structure of the Sun,<\/p> \n

\u2013 convection,<\/p> \n

\u2013 atmosphere,<\/p> \n

\u2013 rotation,<\/p> \n

\u2013 oscillations,<\/p> \n

\u2013 helioseismology,<\/p> \n

\u2013 solar magnetism,<\/p> \n

\u2013 eruptions,<\/p> \n

\u2013 corona,<\/p> \n

\u2013 space weather.<\/p> \n

From the perspective of physics for security fields, we will focus primarily on space weather as a consequence of the properties described in other branches of solar physics, as it has a direct impact on human systems and technology.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Space weather<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Space weather significantly impacts human technologies and Earth’s climate, making the field of space weather measurement and forecasting a highly promising discipline within applied solar physics. Fluctuations in space weather cause, among other things: geomagnetic storms, auroras, ionospheric disturbances, electronic malfunctions, and disruptions in long-distance power lines 3<\/a>.<\/p> \n\n

MICHAL, \u0160vanda. Solar Physics. MICHAL, \u0160vanda. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University<\/em> [online]. Prague: Sirrah, UK, 2015 [cited 2017-09-04]. Available from: http:\/\/sirrah.troja.mff.cuni.cz\/~svanda\/AST001\/<\/a>.<\/p> \n\n

The primary monitored variables of space weather are:<\/p> \n

\u2013 Monitoring of IMF (interplanetary magnetic field) around Earth in nT,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Disturbance currents in the ionosphere (Dst) caused by increased solar activity in nT to determine the intensity of a magnetic storm at low latitudes,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Other geomagnetic indices \u2013 K, Kp, Ap, AE 4<\/a><\/sup>,<\/p> \n\n

\u0160ALOMOUNOV\u00c1, Mark\u00e9na. Space Weather \u2013 Ionospheric Variations Due to Solar Processes<\/em>. Brno, 2011. Bachelor’s thesis. Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics. Supervisor: Mgr. Zby\u0161ek Mo\u0161na.<\/p> \n\n

\u2013 Solar wind speed in km\/s,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Solar activity proxies (14<\/sup>C):<\/p> \n

\u2013 14<\/sup>C, Be isotopes: cosmogenic elements,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Likely of galactic origin; during increased solar activity, they lose energy and their penetration into Earth’s magnetosphere decreases,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Higher activity = less 14<\/sup>C,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Isotopes can be found in glaciers and tree rings,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Geological layers mapping general climate temperature.<\/p> \n\n

Activity Prediction Methods<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p> \n

\u2013 Activity forecasts:<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Short-term \u2013 extrapolation based on experience, \u201cobservation\u201d of the far side<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Accuracy ~ 85% over a week,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Long-term<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Mathematical function modeling the activity index evolution<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Prediction = extrapolation,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Physical model incorporating principles, calibrated on observations,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Prediction = model projection into the future,<\/p> \n\n

\u2013 Solar activity affects technology \u2013 for planning purposes, at least an estimate is necessary<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 NASA and mission planning, extravehicular activities,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Energy \u2013 vigilance against outages,<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Satellites \u2013 potential malfunctions, transition into safe mode.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Selected solar phenomena and anomalies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Flare Event Scenario<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. High-energy electromagnetic radiation<\/p> \n

\u2013 X-rays and gamma rays,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Ionizes the atmosphere, causing communication and GPS disruptions,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Lasts eight and a half minutes after the flare.<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. Proton storm<\/p> \n

\u2013 Dangerous for astronauts, increases radiation exposure for pilots, etc.,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Differential charging of particles,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Lasts 23 minutes to two hours.<\/p> \n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3. Coronal mass ejection<\/p> \n

\u2013 Disrupts the magnetosphere,<\/p> \n

\u2013 Satellite failures, network outages,<\/p> \n

\u2013 20 hours to three days.<\/p> \n\n

Aurora<\/em><\/strong> is the result of the interaction between solar wind particles and atoms and molecules in the atmosphere (collisional excitation); high power input, up to 600 GW; most commonly occurs near the polar circles; appears almost symmetrically in the southern and northern hemispheres; completely harmless \u2013 disrupts shortwave communication but enables longwave communication.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Impacts of solar activity on Earth<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Effects of Solar Activity on Earth:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Generation of voltage on long-distance power lines:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Collapse of energy grids,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Corrosion of pipelines.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Radio communication interference<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Air traffic!<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Navigation<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oil platforms,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Radio beacons.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0False signals.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0 Electronics.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0 Damage to spacecraft.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Increased radiation risk for astronauts, pilots, and flight attendants.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0 Potential danger to cybernetic implants.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0 People more sensitive to changes in the magnetic field:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Possible impact on MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Loss of animal orientation:<\/em><\/strong> pigeons, dolphins, whales, etc.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Periods of activity and relation to climate<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Gleissberg Cycle: 87 years, modulation of cycle amplitude.<\/em><\/p>\n

De Vries Cycle: 205 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hallstatt Cycle: 2300 years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eruptive period: 140\u2013170 (154) days.<\/em><\/p>\n

Strong period ~ 27 days! + aperiodic component<\/em><\/p>\n

Periods have no physical basis, they do not reproduce in models<\/em>\u00a05<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

MICHAL, \u0160vanda. Solar Physics. MICHAL, \u0160vanda.\u00a0<\/span>Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University<\/em>\u00a0[online]. Prague: Sirrah, UK, 2015. Available at:\u00a0<\/span>http:\/\/sirrah.troja.mff.cuni.cz\/~svanda\/AST001\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Relationship Between Solar Activity and Earth’s Climate<\/em><\/strong> according to\u00a06<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

MICHAL, \u0160vanda. Solar Physics. MICHAL, \u0160vanda.\u00a0<\/span>Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University<\/em>\u00a0[online]. Prague: Sirrah, UK, 2015. Available at:\u00a0<\/span><\/a>htt<\/a><\/sup>:<\/span><\/p>\n

10th\u201313th centuries: warm climate, Greenland \u2013 agricultural colony (Greenland)<\/p>\n

13th century: cooling<\/p>\n

645\u20131715: Little Ice Age\u00a0 (Maunder Minimum)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Solar Physics - Relationships between the number of sunspots and the Earth's climate 7<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Selected disasters<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The chapter briefly introduces selected disasters caused by solar activity and sudden changes in the magnetic field, according to [20].<\/p>\n

The Carrington Event (super-eruption)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 First historically documented eruption on September 1, 1859,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Geomagnetic storm lasting two days,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Aurora visible in the Caribbean, miners in the Rocky Mountains had breakfast thinking it was morning, it was possible to read newspapers,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Telegraph outages, operators burned, some lines sent false messages even without power,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Dst index \u22121760 nT.<\/p>\n

1921 Electromagnetic Storm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Geomagnetic storm disabled the New York City subway on May 13, 1921<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Probably caused the telegraph line to burn down a control tower,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Complete telegraph network outage on the east coast of the USA,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Widespread failures (\u201cburnt electronics\u201d) of the telephone network in Sweden,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Failures of transcontinental cables.<\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec Blackout<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 March 13, 1989, widespread geomagnetic storm as a result of a series of eruptions and CMEs (coronal mass ejections),<\/p>\n

\u2013 Collapse of the energy grid in Qu\u00e9bec, total blackout lasted 9 hours,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Isolated by the rocky bedrock,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Collapse lasted on the order of seconds,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Several transformers burned out,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Total damages $6 million,<\/p>\n

\u2013 A 500 kV transformer in New Jersey burned out,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Two 400 kV transformers burned out in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Bastille Day Event<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 X5-class eruption on July 14, 2000,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Proton eruption on the center of the solar disk, thus well-observed,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Completely overwhelmed the EIT@SOHO and rendered measurements useless,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Accompanied by a geomagnetic storm from July 15\u201317,<\/p>\n

\u2013 After-effects of the coronal mass ejection detected by instruments on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.<\/p>\n

July 23, 2011, Eruption on the Far Side of the Sun<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Massive CME (strength unknown), hit the STEREO A satellite<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Actually two CMEs 15 minutes apart, the area \u201ccleaned\u201d by another CME four days prior,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 2900 km\/s (!),<\/p>\n

\u2013 Estimated geo-effectiveness \u2013 DST ~ -1200 nT,<\/p>\n

\u2013 Estimated damage: $2 trillion (20x Katrina).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Solar physics and safety Solar physics, or the physics of the Sun, focuses on the study and description of stars, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physics-and-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3334"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3791,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3334\/revisions\/3791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kint.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}