Advanced forecast for ensuring communications through space
Severe space weather effects may degrade the performance of modern telecommunication and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Therefore, solar storms are able to affect our modern infrastructure facilities and installations. As a result, restricted functionality or catastrophic failure of telecommunication and navigation systems could lead to serious economic losses, safety risks or to the restriction of the quality of live.
The objective of AFFECTS is to set up a high quality forecast system for predicting strong space weather effects.
Based on their long term experiences, the Earth Observation Center and the Institute of Navigation and Communication at DLR Neustrelitz develop new methods and techniques for modelling and real time monitoring of the ionosphere. Furthermore, related information and products are operationally provided by a specific service.The latter has already been established as a preliminary version within the project “Space Weather Application Center Ionosphere” (SWACI) that is considerably supported by the federal state “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”. The service provides, e.g. European and global maps of the total electron content (TEC).Driven by solar wind data that are provided by the NASA satellite ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) and geomagnetic indices, a perturbation model for TEC will be developed and tested. Since DLR Neustrelitz belongs to the Real Time Solar Wind Network of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), key information is obtained during daytime in DLR. Derived warnings and forecasts will be disseminated via SWACI.
The project AFFECTS which is led by the Georg-August Universität Göttingen, is financially supported within the European Union’s seventh framework program by about two million Euros.
Support: European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)
Consortium:
Georg-August Universität Göttingen (Prime), D; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR), D; Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques, D; EADS Astrium Friedrichshafen, D; Belgian Royal Observatory Brussels, Belgium; Geophysical Observatory in Tromsø, Norway; National Space Research Institute of the Ukraine, Ukraine; Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, USA.
Duration: 2011 -2014