Conveners
SWR2 – Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts: Orals - Part 1
- Manuela Temmer (Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Austria)
- Guram Kervalishvili (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences)
- Karmen Martinić (Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
- Rute Santos (University of Coimbra)
SWR2 – Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts: Orals - Part 2
- Guram Kervalishvili (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences)
- Rute Santos (University of Coimbra)
- Manuela Temmer (Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Austria)
- Karmen Martinić (Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
SWR2 – Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts: Oral - part 3
- Karmen Martinić (Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
- Rute Santos (University of Coimbra)
- Guram Kervalishvili (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences)
- Manuela Temmer (Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Austria)
SWR2 – Interdisciplinary Insights into Space Weather Events of Solar Cycle 25: From Solar Origins to Planetary Impacts: Orals - part 4
- Karmen Martinić (Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
- Manuela Temmer (Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Austria)
- Rute Santos (University of Coimbra)
- Guram Kervalishvili (GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences)
Description
The extreme space weather events of Solar Cycle 25 highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to understanding solar-Earth interactions. This session aims to bring together experts from solar and heliospheric physics, as well as
magnetospheric, ionospheric, and atmospheric physics to investigate the formation, propagation, and impacts of solar storms. By studying the magnetic connectivity and dynamics of the source regions leading to solar flares, and eruptions accompanied by the solar energetic particle events, we seek to understand how solar activity influences interplanetary space and interacts with the planetary environment. The propagation of coronal mass ejections and their interactions within the heliosphere are crucial for assessing the extent of space weather disturbances. The session will also address the
broader space implications of these extreme events, as the impact of geomagnetically induced currents on engineering infrastructure remains an important topic for space weather mitigation strategies. We encourage you to submit abstracts on events covering all aspects of space weather, from the Sun to the Earth, and their impacts on other planetary
environments. We welcome modeling and observational studies. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, this session aims to improve our understanding of space weather as a system-wide phenomenon and strengthen links between research communities.
As Solar Cycle 25 reaches its peak of activity, Solar Orbiter is observing a substantial increase in solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar energetic particles (SEPs). Specifically, the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) on board Solar Orbiter has been tracking and characterizing the rise in SEP activity over the past five years. This paper focuses on the intensities of...
Energy spectra of solar energetic particles provide valuable insights into particle acceleration processes. However, also transport effects have been found to potentially alter the spectra, especially in the case of solar energetic electron (SEE) events, which commonly show broken power-law shapes. We analyze the energy spectra of the 50 most intense SEE events measured by Solar Orbiter’s...
Systematic study of solar energetic particles (SEPs) provides the necessary basis to understand their origin, acceleration and propagation in the interplanetary space. It is believed that SEPs are produced following solar eruptive processes, such as solar flares and/or coronal mass ejections. SEPs can be accelerated to the GeV/n range, yet the bulk are with energies of about 100 MeV/n. In the...
The fleet of spacecraft distributed in the inner heliosphere during May-June 2024 offered us the unique opportunity to analyze, over a wide range of heliolongitudes, the effects produced by the complex sunspot group formed by the NOAA active region (AR) 13664 (later numbered AR 13697).
The intense level of solar activity recorded from 2024 May 8 to 2024 June 21 led to unusually elevated...
Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are typically accelerated during solar eruptions and propagate along magnetic field lines in the inner heliosphere. These eruptions include shockwaves driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and magnetic reconnection in solar flares. Since spacecraft rarely reach the acceleration regions close to the Sun, measured SEP intensities reflect a combination of...
Extreme geomagnetic storms have become more often over the recent years as we have reached and passed beyond the maximum levels of activity for the current solar cycle 25. Extreme storms are typically caused by arrivals of fast coronal mass ejections either linked to active regions and related flaring activity or driven by underlying filament or prominence eruptions. Real-time forecasting of...
Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) leave several signatures in the low corona as identified in EUV and X-ray images, such as intense flares, dimmings, EUV waves, etc., before they appear in white-light coronagraph images. Among them, coronal dimmings are arguably the most reliable indicator of the CME, but their predictive potential for space weather is not yet demonstrated beyond the...
The importance of magnetic helicity in understanding Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) is well recognised. Many studies have supported the idea that a dominant helicity accumulation in active regions (AR) can be a reason for CME eruptions. This study investigates its potential for constraining input parameters in inner heliospheric CME propagation models. We propose a new method to constrain the...
During their propagation from the Sun, through the solar corona and into the inner heliosphere, the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) encounter variable solar wind. Some of the recent studies of the in situ observations of CMEs, by the rather closely positioned spacecraft, showed very different CME signatures. Such different in situ CME signatures may be due to the distorted CME shape which...
Space weather predictions of the solar wind impacting Earth (including its transients) are usually first based on remote-sensing observations of the solar disc and corona, and eventually validated and/or refined with in-situ measurements taken at the Sun–Earth Lagrange L1 point, where real-time monitoring probes are located. However, this pipeline provides, on average, only a few tens of...
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with a strong and sustained southward magnetic field component are the main drivers of strong geomagnetic activity at Earth. One of the greatest challenges in space weather is accurately forecasting their arrival and magnetic structure, essential towards mitigating their impact to both space and ground systems. As CMEs propagate from the Sun, they undergo many...
On May 10th 2024, the first of at least five interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) arrived at Earth and caused the strongest geomagnetic storm (Gannon storm) in over twenty years. The effect of this storm was global, however in this study the effect on the Swedish power grid is in focus. By using satellite data from Wind, ground magnetometer data from the IMAGE network and ground...
Geomagnetic disturbances lead to the generation of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in technological systems like power grids. In some cases, mainly during intensive events, these GICs can irreversibly damage the transformers and even cause power grid blackouts.
At the same time, the proper numerical simulation of GICs is rather challenging task due to the many variables that...
In previous work, we applied our modelling framework for geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in the German high-voltage transmission grid to geomagnetic storms of Solar Cycle 25, including the May 2024 event. This analysis revealed significant GIC amplitudes (>20 A) across several substations.
This consequently raises the question of the likelihood of such an impact in the future and the...
Large geomagnetic field variations during geomagnetic storms induce geoelectric currents in the ground which flow through ground-based technology, such as power grids and pipelines. In recent years BGS have been working on improving measurements and models to help quantify the risk of space weather.
We have upgraded our long-term geoelectric field monitoring equipment at the 3 UK...
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission was launched in 2009 and has been operational since commissioning in the first half of 2010. The Sun signal appears in most of the brightness temperature images collected by the Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) payload. As such, the removal of this signal has always been a top priority for the success of the...
RISER – Radio Investigations for Space Environment Research – is a £3.7M NERC-funded Large Environment 5-Year Project addressing the full chain of space weather phenomena from the Sun to the Earth. It investigates how regular radio observations taken using the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) can be used for continuous, accurate tracking of inner-heliospheric and ionospheric plasma structures,...
During the geomagnetic storm of October 10, 2024, GNSS-based augmentation services such as EGNOS APV-I (Approach with Vertical Guidance) and LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance) were reported to experience a significant disruption. These services were unavailable for nearly one hour over southern Iberia and showed reduced availability across other parts of Europe. This reduction...
Severe geomagnetic storms have a significant impact on ionospheric and geomagnetic dynamics, particularly in equatorial regions such as Thailand. These disturbances often manifest as modifications to the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the development or suppression of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). These effects are primarily driven by storm-time electric fields and associated...
The geomagnetic storm that began on May 10$^{th}$, 2024 — commonly referred to as the “Mother’s Day” or “Gannon” storm — was the strongest in decades, producing global auroral displays and major space weather impacts.
This study presents a detailed analysis of GNSS signal scintillation in the Arctic (50°–85°N, 160°W–40°E), combining multi-instrument datasets to examine both physical drivers...
Forecasting extreme solar events remains one of the most critical challenges in space weather. The May 2024 superstorm serves as a compelling example, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive methodological approach capable of predicting the full sequence of events leading to severe geomagnetic storms impacting Earth. In particular, the extreme G5 geomagnetic storm observed in May 2024...
Space weather is increasingly recognised as a significant global hazard, with both widespread and region-specific impacts. This study investigates two major space weather events from May and October 2024, selected for their intensity, their occurrence during a time of high technological dependence, and their differing solar origins. The May event resulted from the interaction and compounding...
Relevant to Space Weather is to study the relations between the solar activity and the related solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed in the heliosphere. In this study, we analyze the relations between the solar activity (flare, CME, shocks) and the SEP peak intensities measured by MESSENGER, STEREO, and ACE spacecraft during 2010-2015. We investigate the 3D early kinematic profile of...
We utilized various analysis methods to study a coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by SOHO’s LASCO on March 23, 2024, at 01:25 UT. The shock wave's radio signature in the metric range was detected by Callisto stations ALASKA-COHOE and Australia-ASSA, and the STEREO/SWAVES instrument recorded the interplanetary counterpart. Additionally, we gathered Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS)...
Orbital decay in low Earth orbit (LEO) is strongly influenced by solar activity, which modulates atomic and molecular density at high altitudes and thus increase the drag force. It is a significant concern for satellite operators at LEO in terms of constellation management and satellite operational lifetime perspective. This poster explores how variations across the solar cycle affect...
Identifying reliable coronal mass ejection (CME) interplanetary CME (ICME) pairs remains one of the major challenges in heliophysics. Despite the availability of multiple CME and ICME lists, association between solar eruptions and their interplanetary counterparts often differ significantly across studies. This inconsistency highlights the inherent uncertainty and complexity in tracing solar...
We report an analysis of the event recorded during 1-10 June 2025 by the AATB neutron monitor (Almaty, Kazakhstan; 3340 m a.s.l.; Rc = 5.9 GV). The cosmic ray intensity decreased by about 12%, classifying the event as a large Forbush decrease. The solar source of the disturbances was active region AR 14100, which produced a series of M3.4 and M8.1 flares on 30-31 May 2025, accompanied by fast...
An important direction within the core project of the Geological Institute of Romania, entitled "Geomagnetism, a modern tool in space weather forecasting and rapid response to associated natural hazards for the protection of critical infrastructures and national air traffic security", is the study of geomagnetic storms and the methodology for complex analysis of these phenomena. In the present...
Metis, the coronagraph on board Solar Orbiter, is an externally occulted instrument with a field of view (FOV) spanning 1.7°–3.4°, which, over the course of a typical spacecraft orbit, corresponds to heliocentric distances from 1.7 to about 10 solar radii. Metis operates with two radiometric channels: one measures coronal emission in a narrow ultraviolet (UV) band centered on the H I Lyman-α...
Within previous studies, the relationship of microwave signatures in solar flares and in-situ Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) fluxes and spectra has been investigated. This study continues and expands earlier efforts, considering both electron and proton signatures in relation to solar microwave emission in the 8-17 GHz range.
The primary aim of the study was to confirm previous results,...
Impulsive Solar Energetic Particle (SEPs) Events are known to accelerate particles of different species. One particular characteristic of these impulsive events is the enhancement of the 3He/4He ratio, on what we call 3He-rich events. 3He events are usually associated with Type III bursts and non-relativistic electron events. It is speculated that solar jets are the impulse events that lead to...
Predicting the geomagnetic effects of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) remains a major challenge in space weather forecasting. Spacecraft positioned upstream of L1, referred to as sub-L1 monitors, offer a promising observational approach to enhance both the lead time and accuracy of geomagnetic storm predictions.
Between November 2022 and June 2024, STEREO-A passed approximately 0.05 AU ahead...
Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) pose a serious risk to technological infrastructures, and their assessment requires reliable estimates of the surface geoelectric field, which depends on the Earth’s subsurface electrical conductivity. Long-period magnetotelluric (MT) surveys are ideal for this purpose, but many broadband MT datasets, originally acquired for geological exploration,...
On 8 June 2024 at approximately 00:45 UT, a massive solar prominence erupted from Active Region 13697, located at approximately 18°S and 69°W on the solar disk, as seen from Earth's perspective. The eruption was accompanied by an M9.8-class solar flare and a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME), which induced a noticeable deflection of pre-existing coronal streamer structures, as observed in...
We report a recent modeling study of the global propagation of solar energetic particle (SEP) fluxes between 30 solar radii and 1 au for impulsive events. We utilize a modified and expanded version of the EPREM model for global particle transport, coupled with an observation-driven solar wind description from the MAS heliospheric MHD solution. A power law distribution of protons with a sharp...
Sometimes, strong solar energetic particle events can be observed by neutron monitors on the ground level, and this is commonly called a "Ground-Level Enhancement" (GLE) of their count rates over the background. Here we report a such event that happened on 8 June 2024 and was consequently numbered as #75. It was caused by a solar flare originating from the active region 13697 (13664 on the...
Recent results show that the solar wind helium abundance and normalized cross helicity can be used to classify solar wind from continuously and intermittently open source regions. In the associated parameter space, ICMEs appear where the helium abundance is enhanced and the cross helicity is low. This region of the plane also has an enhanced solar wind compressibility. Using 30 years of Wind...
Many forecasts regarding the propagation direction, size, and orientation of CMEs rely on simplistic models that make basic assumptions about the geometry, which are not known to be true. In most cases, these models are either a simple cone model or the very popular graduated cylindrical shell (GCS) model. Additionally, it is known that any analysis derived from using these models can be...
The fast changes in geomagnetic field during a solar storm result in so-called geomagnetically induced currents in long conducting installations, like pipelines, railway catenary and overhead power lines. Geomagnetically induced currents in overhead power lines can trigger outages or damage of transformers and even large-scale blackouts.
A less severe and also less known, but in our opinion...
Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs) may pose significant risks to power transmission systems during geomagnetic storms, making their study a uniquely interdisciplinary challenge at the intersection of space weather, geophysics, and power engineering. This work investigates the influence of shield wires (ShW), which are grounded conductors installed along transmission lines, on GIC...
The origin, acceleration, and anisotropy of suprathermal ions in the interplanetary medium remain poorly understood till date. These ions serve as seed populations for solar energetic particles (SEP) which are capable of damaging space assets. In this study, we investigate the directional spectra of suprathermal ions during quiet solar wind conditions in January-November, 2024. We utilize in...
EUHFORIA (EUropean Heliospheric FORecasting Information Asset) is a widely used 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation for forecasting the propagation of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the heliosphere. Over the years, EUHFORIA has undergone significant development such as the creation of dedicated visualization tools and the continuous addition of advanced CME models. Among these, the...
During the first G3 storm of Solar Cycle 25, the passage of a solar filament on 12 May 2021 produced a strong geomagnetic storm and a rich response in Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere-telluric-technology system. We use data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to investigate the effects of the event on the power grid along the US East Coast and compare the timing and...
On October 3 2024, the Sun emitted the most powerful solar flare of the current solar cycle to date, reaching an X9 classification on the GOES scale. This exceptional event was accompanied by an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, resulting in a strong geomagnetic storm on October 7–8. The flare itself was observed by multiple solar monitoring instruments, both ground-based and space-based....
This study traces the journey from solar flare initiation to auroral impacts on Earth. I began by analyzing magnetic reconnection in active regions using SDO/HMI and SDO/AIA data (Kazachenko et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-01987-6) . I then fed flare and CME parameters into ENLIL heliospheric models to forecast shock arrival. These forecasts were validated against solar-wind...
In 2024, major solar flares occurred in May and October, disrupting the radiation environment near Earth. This report presents the results of analyses of space radiation data and its effects in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit obtained in 2024. GOSAT is equipped with a light particle telescope (LPT) for the purpose of high-energy charged particle environments that can cause spacecraft...
Geomagnetic storms disturb the near-Earth space environment and induce geoelectric fields at ground level, posing risks to critical infrastructure. This study investigates the spatial and temporal structure of the geoelectric field (E-field) in south-southeast Brazil during the May 2024 geomagnetic storm, focusing on polarization effects and regional susceptibility to geomagnetically induced...
We examine the geoelectric field and geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) during the May 2024 superstorm using a novel method. The divergence-free part of the geoelectric field (EDF), associated with rapid magnetic field variations, is estimated from ground-based magnetic field observations using spherical elementary current systems. The curl-free part of the geoelectric field (ECF),...
The rapid growth of open science and data-driven research in heliophysics and space weather demands robust, accessible, and comprehensive digital infrastructures. The Science Explorer (SciX) digital library—developed through a collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory—now serves as a transformative platform for interdisciplinary research across astrophysics,...
During the extreme solar storm of May 2024, the orbital configuration of solar observing missions offered a rare opportunity to track the full life cycle of the active region where the responsible eruptions originated. Particularly, Solar Orbiter was located near the far side of the Sun—approximately 170 degrees from Earth—allowing continuous monitoring of the source active region before,...
In this paper we have presented a statistical analysis of coronal mass ejections (CME) for the semi solar cycle 25 (year 2020 to year 2025). We used SOHO/LASCO catalogue for finding key parameters such as frequency of occurrence, speed, angular width, halo CMEs and correlated with solar activity indices such as sunspot numbers and solar cycle phase. We found that the narrow events were majorly...
This research aims to explore the connection between the global configuration of the solar magnetic field and the geoeffectiveness of Earth-impacting coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The heliospheric plasma sheet (HPS), which is related to the heliospheric current sheet (HCS), is a large-scale magnetic structure characterized by weak magnetic field intensity, but relatively high mass density and...
The forecast of space weather impacts related to CMEs which interact with high-speed stream is very challenging. ICMEs are known to be among the most important origins of geomagnetic storms because they usually carry out-of-the-ecliptic strong magnetic fields and are often associated with interplanetary shocks. The internal ICME structure is characterized as a magnetic flux rope, which may...
In our paper, we describe the content of the platform for the educational courses in geomagnetism was done in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript. HTML tells the browser what elements should be included in the web page (and in what order). CSS tells the browser how each element should be styled. JavaScript provides a means for web page authors to...
Space Weather (SWE) has a profound impact on Earth’s atmospheric chemistry and climate. Compared to the present-day Sun, the young Sun was more magnetically active and experienced more frequent extreme space weather events, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar energetic particles (SEPs), which steadily bombarded Earth’s upper atmosphere. These particles enhanced atmospheric...
This study investigates the variability in the occurrence of Atlantic Hurricanes (AHU) over the Atlantic and East Caribbean regions and Tropical Cyclones (TC) over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during the period 1979–2018. A comprehensive statistical analysis, including correlation and regression methods, is employed to explore the relationship between solar activity and cyclone...
The geomagnetic storm of May 2024 was the most intense event observed since the major storm of November 2003, reaching a minimum Disturbance Storm Time (Dst) index of –412 nT. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the ionospheric response, with particular attention to variations in the critical frequency of the F2 layer (foF2). The analysis draws on validated measurements from 34...
This study focuses on the Mother’s Day (or Gannon) geomagnetic storm of May 2024, which became the most intense space weather event of solar cycle 25. It reached a peak Kp value of 9 and was classified as a G5-level geomagnetic storm, marking it as one of the most extreme storms since 2003. During this period, multiple solar flares associated with SIDC Sunspot Group 75 (NOAA Active Region...
One of the most significant hurdles for safe human exploration to Mars is the exposure to radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and transient space weather events during transit and on the planet. Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which are notoriously hard to predict. High doses of radiation may be delivered on time scales...
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission was launched almost sixteen years ago as part of the Earth Explorers ESA missions. It generates full polarimetric brightness temperature images in the L-band at 1.4 GHz with an integration time of 1.2 s. As the Sun appears in most images as the strongest source of contamination, data are processed with a Sun removal algorithm. This signal can...
Magnetohydrodynamic modelling of the evolution and dynamics of large-scale heliospheric disturbances is conventionally carried out employing either a coronal or heliospheric approach. In the former, the complex dynamics from the low corona to the heliosphere is modeled, while in the latter the simulation is started at heliocentric distances at which the solar wind is characterised by...
The geomagnetic storm of 10 − 12 May 2024 was the first extreme storm of the solar cycle 25 and the largest storm in more than 20 years. During this super-intense geomagnetic disturbance, the auroral oval expanded to sub-auroral regions with lower geomagnetic latitudes than those of the observatories standardly used to calculate the indices AU, AL, and AE. The relationship between the main...
Reliable forecasts with sufficient advance warning of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are vital for swift mitigation of threats to modern technology, spacecraft, avionics and under extreme circumstances commercial aircraft, as well as for minimizing radiation hazards to astronauts especially on future Lunar or Mars missions.To this end, the HESPERIA Relativistic Electron Alert System for...
Solar soft x-ray irradiance has been historically difficult to measure and “accepted” irradiance levels have been revised at least twice since initial values were published by Hinteregger et al. [1981] using Atmospheric Explorer E (AE-E) data. The first major revision was proposed by Solomon et al. [2001], who using soft x-ray irradiance measurements from the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer...
