New instrumentation helps scientists forecast the universe's weather more accurately

New measuring equipment and observation techniques developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign are helping scientists better understand and predict the cosmic weather.

Jonathan Makela, professor of electronics and computer science at the University of Illinois, has developed a new instrument to help forecast the universe's weather more accurately.

Jonathan Makela and the new instrumentation help forecast the universe's weather more accurately.(Photo: Sciencedaily)

Cosmic storms are caused by explosions in the sun's atmosphere and physical eruptions in the solar aura. Cosmic storms have a bad impact on life on earth. Intense radiation explosions affect astronauts, disrupting earth-based telecommunications satellites, navigation systems and electrical networks.

Jonathan Makela explained that 'these storms are one of the most explosive events in the ionosphere and are an important component in the study of cosmic storms. A better understanding of the processes that govern storms can help us improve our ability to anticipate storms. Thereby we can come up with better measures to minimize their consequences. '

The ionosphere lies at an altitude of 100 to 1000 km from the earth's surface. In this layer, solar radiation causes electrons to escape from atoms and gas molecules. At sunset, these electrons recombine and emit light. This light is called air light. And cosmic storms when entering the equatorial quarters they weaken with the emergence of air-glow layers. When the signals have radio waves through this chaotic region, they will emit sparkling light very similar to the sparkling light with a star's optical wavelength.

Unlike the morning sun in the sky, the bright layer of air cannot be seen with the naked eye but can only be seen through images taken with narrow bandwidth filters with a time of about one to two minutes.

In May 2006, Makela installed an air-light scanner at the Inter-American Observatory Cerro Tololo located in the eastern city of La Serena, Chile. The camera is facing north, parallel to the magnetic region of the earth and projected to the equator. Two light detectors positioned by GPS systems are also installed at the observatory and they are used to study the instability of the ionosphere on a smaller scale.

Makela adds, 'These observers will help us perform simple calculations of interference and' capture 'the movement speed of changes that generate light. By measuring the change of GPS signals, we can show the correlation of the light patterns with the air-bright image. "

Makela is trying to show the correlation of the air-light image with radar observations made at the Jicamarca radar system located near Peru's capital, Lima. Makela explained 'in this way, we can study the equatorial position and the local regions of the ionosphere during the process of creating sparkling light. Thereby, it can help us more accurately predict cosmic storms and take better precautions on earth and dance stations in space and plan communication plans and locate in the process of cosmic storms. '

Makela will give a presentation on the new instrumentation and its most recent results based on the data of cameras, GPS signal recorders, Jicamrca radar station at the conference of the US Earth Physics Federation. takes place from December 11-15

The National Science Association and the US Naval Laboratory funded Makela's research.

Moc Nhat