Getting Ready for Solar Max:
Separating Fact from Fiction on Impacts of Space Weather Workshop
Tuesday, 6 December, 10:00 am PST
Press Conference Room
Moscone Convention Center
San Francisco, California
The number of solar flares and coronal mass ejections are becoming more frequent as the sun moves toward solar maximum over the next ~20 months — and there is a corresponding increase in public interest and media coverage in the effects of the radiation and particles that impact Earth, collectively known as space weather. But space weather is a relatively new research area and the complexity of the dynamic sun-Earth system make it a difficult subject to understand. It’s easy to overhype fears about incoming solar radiation, but also easy to oversimplify the vast number of ways solar activity can affect Earth, humans, and technology. This workshop will provide participants with information in three crucial areas: the current understanding of the sun-earth system; the details of the valid threats space weather can bring, including particle radiation exposure for airplane travelers, GPS failure, disruption of satellite electronics, and power grid overload; and insights into the newest space weather observing and early-warning techniques.
Participants:
- Dr. Daniel Baker, Director, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Dr. Louis Lanzerotti, Distinguished Research Professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, USA
- Dr. Michael Hesse, Chief, Space Weather Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Dr. Antti Pulkkinen, Associate Professor, Catholic University and Research Associate, Community Coordinated Modeling Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
- Dr. Rodney Viereck, Director, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Test Bed, Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Related Links
› Link to Briefing Materials
› Link to Associated Feature Story
› Link to Bios
