{
"id": 4189,
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"title": "Comparative Magnetospheres: A Carrington-Class CME",
"description": "In an effort to understand and predict the impact of space weather events on Earth, the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, routinely runs computer models of the many historical events. These model runs are then compared to actual data to determine ways to improve the model, and therefore forecasts of the impacts of future space weather events.But sometimes we don't have an actual event where we have lots of data for comparison. Extreme space weather events are one example where we must test models with a rather limited set of data.This is a model run used to examine the consequences if a large coronal mass ejection (CME) such as The Carrington-Class CME of 2012 had actual hit Earth. Such model runs allow us to estimate consequences of a large event hitting Earth so we can better protect power grids and satellites.Some of the conclusions from this model run are (documented in the paper linked below):The magnetopause is compressed to the point it is moved inside the orbits of our geosynchronous satellites.Large field-aligned currents are created on the night-side of Earth, generating large ionospheric potentials.At high latitudes, geo-electric fields of 26 volts per kilometer can be generated.For comparison, the geo-electric field of the March 1989 storm which generated an extensive power outage in Canada (Wikipedia) had a value of only about 6 volts per kilometer; and the 2003 Halloween solar storms (see Halloween Solar Storms 2003) generated a field of about 12 volts per kilometer. || ",
"release_date": "2014-09-25T10:00:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2024-12-29T22:16:09.811536-05:00",
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"description": "In an effort to understand and predict the impact of space weather events on Earth, the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, routinely runs computer models of the many historical events. These model runs are then compared to actual data to determine ways to improve the model, and therefore forecasts of the impacts of future space weather events.
But sometimes we don't have an actual event where we have lots of data for comparison. Extreme space weather events are one example where we must test models with a rather limited set of data.
This is a model run used to examine the consequences if a large coronal mass ejection (CME) such as The Carrington-Class CME of 2012 had actual hit Earth. Such model runs allow us to estimate consequences of a large event hitting Earth so we can better protect power grids and satellites.
Some of the conclusions from this model run are (documented in the paper linked below):
- The magnetopause is compressed to the point it is moved inside the orbits of our geosynchronous satellites.
- Large field-aligned currents are created on the night-side of Earth, generating large ionospheric potentials.
- At high latitudes, geo-electric fields of 26 volts per kilometer can be generated.
For comparison, the geo-electric field of the March 1989 storm which generated an extensive power outage in Canada (Wikipedia) had a value of only about 6 volts per kilometer; and the 2003 Halloween solar storms (see Halloween Solar Storms 2003) generated a field of about 12 volts per kilometer.",
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{
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{
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{
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{
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{
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{
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"Modeling extreme (Carrington-type) space weather events using three-dimensional MHD code simulations"
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"datasets": [
{
"name": "BATS-R-US Magnetosphere Model",
"common_name": "",
"platform": null,
"sensor": null,
"type": "Model",
"organizations": [
"Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC)"
],
"description": "MHD Magnetospheric simulation",
"credit": "",
"url": "",
"date_range": null
}
],
"nasa_science_categories": [
"Sun"
],
"keywords": [
"Coronal Mass Ejections",
"Earth Science",
"Heliophysics",
"Location",
"Magnetosphere",
"magnetotail",
"Solar Activity",
"Solar Wind",
"Space Weather",
"Sun-earth Interactions"
],
"recommended_pages": [],
"related": [
{
"id": 4188,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4188/",
"page_type": "Visualization",
"title": "Comparative Magnetospheres: A Noteworthy Coronal Mass Ejection",
"description": "In an effort to understand and predict the impact of space weather events on Earth, the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, routinely runs computer models of the many historical events. These model runs are then compared to actual data to determine ways to improve the model, and therefore forecasts of the impacts of future space weather events.In mid-December of 2006, the Sun erupted with a bright flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) that launched particles Earthward. While not the brightest or largest event observed, its impact on Earth was substantial, requiring some effort to protect satellites (ESA: Reacting to a solar flare).The visualization presented here is a CCMC run of a BATS-R-US model simulating the impact of this event on Earth. Here, lines are used to represent the 'flow direction' of magnetic field of the solar wind impacting Earth, as well as the effects on Earth's geomagnetic field. A 'cut-plane' through the data illustrates the changes in the particle density in the solar wind and magnetosphere. The color of the data represents a logarithmic scaling of density, with red as the highest (1000 particles per cubic centimeter) down to blue (0.01 particles per cubic centimeter). In this simulation, each frame of the movie corresponds to two minutes of real time.In the movie, we see vertical field lines of magnetic field carried by the solar wind, coming in from the left. As this field, and the plasma carrying it, strike Earth's magnetic field, they bend and reconnect, around the Earth. Some field lines actually reconnect to the polar regions of the Earth, providing a ready flow-path for particles to reach the ionosphere and generate aurora. This interaction between the solar wind and the plasma trapped in Earth's magnetosphere also creates a density enhancement between Earth and the solar wind helping to shield Earth from some of the effects. A lower density wake forms behind Earth (the blue region). There is a circular 'hole' around the Earth which is a gap in the model. || ",
"release_date": "2014-09-25T10:00:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2025-01-05T22:31:29.713646-05:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 452471,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004188/Earth_December2006_Pullout.noslate_GSEmove.HD1080i.0300_print.jpg",
"filename": "Earth_December2006_Pullout.noslate_GSEmove.HD1080i.0300_print.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "This movie opens with a close-up view of Earth with geo-magnetic field lines. The camera pulls out and fades in a profile slice of the plasma density data.This video is also available on our YouTube channel.",
"width": 1024,
"height": 576,
"pixels": 589824
}
},
{
"id": 11660,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11660/",
"page_type": "Produced Video",
"title": "Comparing CMEs",
"description": "This video features two model runs. One looks at a moderate coronal mass ejection (CME) from 2006. The second run examines the consequences of a large coronal mass ejection, such as The Carrington-Class CME of 1859. These model runs allow us to estimate consequences of a large event hitting Earth, so we can better protect power grids and satellites.In an effort to understand and predict the impact of space weather events on Earth, the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, routinely runs computer models of the many historical events. These model runs are then compared to actual data to determine ways to improve the model, and therefore forecasts of future space weather events.Sometimes we need an actual event to have data for comparison. Extreme space weather events are one example where researchers must test models with a rather limited set of data.The vertical lines on the left represent magnetic field lines from the sun. || ",
"release_date": "2014-09-25T09:30:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:31.532133-04:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 451470,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011600/a011660/carrington720.jpg",
"filename": "carrington720.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.",
"width": 1280,
"height": 720,
"pixels": 921600
}
},
{
"id": 4167,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4167/",
"page_type": "Visualization",
"title": "The Big CME that Missed Earth",
"description": "July of 2012 witnessed the eruption of a very large and fast solar coronal mass ejection (CME) (see NASA STEREO Observes One of the Fastest CMEs On Record and Carrington-class CME Narrowly Misses Earth ). While not directed at Earth, it was sufficiently large that it could have seriously disrupted the global electrical infrastructure. The event did impact STEREO-A of NASA's heliophysics fleet which provided a host of measurements (see Sentinels of the Heliosphere).One of the conditions which contributed to the high speed of this event is that two smaller CMEs were launched a little earlier, and these events cleared out much of the solar wind material, leaving little to slow the outflow of the July 23 event (UTC).In the visualizations below, generated from the Enlil space weather model, green represents particle density, usually protons and other ions. In green, we see the Parker spiral moving out from the sun generated by the sun's current sheet (Wikipedia). Red represents particles at high temperatures and shows the CME is hotter than the usual solar wind flow. Large changes in density are represented in blue. These three colors sometimes combine to tell us more about the characteristics of the event (noted in the 3-color Venn diagram below).However, if this CME had struck Earth's magnetosphere, which has a much stronger magnetic field, the changing magnetic field would induce much larger voltages in systems with long electrical conductors, such as power lines that run over long distances. These significantly higher voltages can damage power transformers. || ",
"release_date": "2014-07-23T00:00:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2025-01-04T00:05:05.071417-05:00",
"main_image": {
"id": 455573,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004167/2012July_high2AU.full.0327.jpg",
"filename": "2012July_high2AU.full.0327.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "Enlil model run of the July 23, 2012 CME and events leading up to it. This movie provides a better view of the inner solar system for the CME event. The density color table has been altered accordingly. This view includes a 'top-down' view in the plane of Earth's orbit, as well as a slice perpendicular to the orbit which passes through Earth. We see the previous CME pass Earth, but not the July 23 event.",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080,
"pixels": 2073600
}
}
],
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}