National Space Weather Monitoring and Warning Center
Released at 9 o'clock on the 11th
Red alert for geomagnetic storms
From 23:00 Beijing time on May 10, 2024
A geomagnetic storm occurs
The maximum level is reached
Extremely geomagnetic storm (Kp=9) level
Expected in the next 24 hours
The magnetic storm process will continue
Geomagnetic storms may still occur in the future
Affected by geomagnetic storms
Most of the continent
There will be disturbances in the ionosphere
Shortwave communication and navigation and positioning
will be affected to varying degrees
The density of the upper atmosphere has increased significantly
It will lead to an increase in the orbital attenuation of low-orbit satellites
What is a geomagnetic storm?
As the most typical solar eruptive activity, a coronal mass ejection process can throw hundreds of millions of tons of solar mass off the surface of the sun at a high speed of hundreds of kilometers per second. These substances not only contain the kinetic energy of the massive mass and velocity, but also carry the powerful magnetic energy of the sun. Once it hits the Earth, it will cause a change in the direction and magnitude of the Earth's magnetic field, known as a geomagnetic storm.
Geomagnetic storms can be classified into the following levels:
Why are geomagnetic storms frequent in recent years?
Space weather, like Earth's weather, rotates between calm and active, but with a longer cycle, usually 11 years. At the end of 2019, the 25th solar cycle began and will continue until 2030. Since 2023, solar activity has increased significantly, with X-class flares, solar proton events, geomagnetic storms and other strong eruption events frequent, and the frequency and intensity are much higher than the level of the same period in week 24.
In the year of solar activity, the sun is relatively active, which is one of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of geomagnetic storms in recent years. Another reason is that in recent years, the network of integrated monitoring stations in the continental air and space has been continuously improved, the ability of space weather monitoring, forecasting and early warning has been continuously improved, the prediction and forecasting of space weather events have become more accurate and refined, and the monitoring products have significantly contributed to aurora observation, which has also increased the public's awareness and attention to space weather events.
What are the effects of geomagnetic storms on life?
The occurrence of geomagnetic storms has little impact on the daily life of the public, and will have a certain impact on the orbit of aircraft and satellites, but it can be measured and controlled.
For example, due to the influence of geomagnetic storms on the magnetic field, the orbital altitude of the satellite space station may decrease due to atmospheric drag, so it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring of the orbit and adjust the orbit as needed. The positioning error of satellite navigation equipment may increase, but it has little impact on the daily use of navigation and other functions by the public.
For air flights, the radiation dose for a daily domestic flight is about 2 to 6 microsieverts, and the radiation dose for international flights across the polar regions is slightly higher, about 50 microsieverts, which is a dose of tens to hundredths of the national security standard. When there is a geomagnetic storm or solar proton event, the radiation dose of aviation will increase, but the impact of a single flight is not significant, so you don't have to worry.
As for the release of carrier pigeons, geomagnetic storm forecasting and early warning has a good guiding role in carrying out related activities, and the relevant public can pay attention to relevant space weather forecast and early warning products in advance to minimize the release activities under adverse weather conditions and long distances.
In addition, geomagnetic storms are wonderful "processing plants" that often bring about "beautiful encounters" – the aurora. Seeing the aurora on the mainland is not an easy task. For aurora lovers, geomagnetic storms are a great time to see the aurora.
In the early morning of May 11, 2024, with the re-outbreak of the sun's strong flare, a brilliant magenta aurora appeared over Xilinhot City, Inner Mongolia. Source: Visual China
Source: People's Daily WeChat public account
Editor-in-Chief: Chen Yuhang, Qi Yue, American Editor: Liu Kun
Supervisor: Li Jintian
Producer: Wang Yanan
Superintendent: Sood