Solar Holler: Satellite Network Preps to Help Predict Stormy Space Weather [Slide Show]

Scientists hope that real-time information about potential solar disturbances can be used to warn those relying on operations in the increasingly crowded low Earth orbit

UP NEXT This image is a rendering of Iridium's $3-billion next-generation satellite network, called Iridium NEXT. The new network will be in place sometime after 2015, when the 72 satellites (66 active and six spares) are launched into orbit on board eight SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. Nine spare NEXT satellites will be built and remain grounded until needed. Each of these satellites is being built with an empty section (84,000 cubic centimeters in size) that could be used to hold third-party sensors and other payloads for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA and other government entities in addition to magnetometers and other standard scientific equipment. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM
STORM INTENSIFIED This viewpoint and color scheme is the same as the previous image but shows the strong currents at the peak of the storm, intensifying as they move from the pole toward North America and Asia. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM
GATHERING STORM This view is from above the North Pole and slightly behind Earth, with the sun toward the top of the screen. Gray and blue colors represent weak electric currents whereas greens, yellows and reds show progressively stronger currents. This image shows the weaker currents at the start of the storm. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM
SNOC Boeing handles AMPERE data collection, processing and packaging from the Iridium Satellite Network Operations Center (SNOC) in Leesburg, Va. The magnetic field samples are then transferred to the APL science data center in Laurel, Md., where the data are processed to yield globally integrated views of Earth's space environment. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM
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SPACE WEATHER FLURRIES A Boeing engineering team and scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) have fine-tuned AMPERE to yield continuous, real-time measurements of the magnetic field over the entire Earth simultaneously with up to 100 times greater sampling density than previously possible. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM
AMPERED UP The Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) uses Iridium's network of 66 low Earth orbit (LEO) communication satellites—the only system capable of providing a fully global view. COURTESY OF IRIDIUM

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