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Space Weather

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Subido el 28 de mayo de 2007 por EducaMadrid

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Ninth segment of NASA Sci Files The Case of the Technical Knockout explaining how scientists monitor and predict space weather using satellites and other technology.

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I'm not telling Jacob about this one. 00:00:00
Thanks RJ, and good work. I thought I lost you for a few minutes, but I understand when nature calls. Over. 00:00:11
Well, I got lucky. My hypothesis is correct after all. 00:00:22
I think it was more than just luck. You did good research. 00:00:26
We all did good research. Now all we need to do is plan our geocache and complete our assignment. 00:00:29
Let's not congratulate ourselves just yet. RJ said that Noah might be able to confirm our hypothesis further. 00:00:34
That's true. You don't always know for certain that you're 100% correct. 00:00:40
Right, but hopefully they'll be able to help us get closer to the answer. 00:00:43
Let's plan our cache and wait for Tony's report from Noah. I'm ready for coordinates. 00:00:46
North 37. 00:00:51
I'm meeting with Mr. Joe Cunches, who works with Noah and the Space Environment Center here in Boulder, Colorado. 00:01:02
He studies space weather and how to predict it. 00:01:07
Hopefully he can tell us whether there was any solar activity the day we experienced the problem with our GPS. 00:01:10
Space weather refers to conditions near the Earth that affect man-made technologies such as satellites and other human activities. 00:01:15
That's why it's so important to predict space weather. 00:01:23
Right. Satellites were once rare and mostly government-owned. 00:01:25
But today they are more numerous and many are commercially owned. 00:01:29
So that's why it's important to know where and when they may be affected. 00:01:32
Right. Satellites are very important in our lives and also a nice addition to a well-balanced portfolio. 00:01:36
We generally depend on satellites for weather information, television, communication and navigation. 00:01:42
We have learned about predicting weather here on Earth, but how do you predict space weather? 00:01:48
Predictions are made primarily using data from satellites that monitor the sun. 00:01:52
For example, NOAA's GOES and POSE satellites help forecasters know atmospheric conditions at low Earth orbits and higher up. 00:01:57
Do you work with NASA satellites as well? 00:02:06
Yes. NASA's ACE satellite samples the solar wind and SOHO allows forecasters to see the solar eruptions that cause space weather. 00:02:08
Are there other ways to monitor space weather? 00:02:18
Yes. We use data from the ground-based observatories run by the United States Air Force as well as the magnetometer network run by the United States Geological Survey. 00:02:20
What is a magnetometer? 00:02:30
A magnetometer is an instrument that measures the behavior of the Earth's magnetic field and tells forecasters when a magnetic storm is developing. 00:02:32
Wow. You have a lot of data to monitor. How do you get it all? 00:02:40
We get data through the Internet, dedicated telephone lines and email. We also have our own antennas that receive data. 00:02:43
And once you have the data, you have to analyze it. 00:02:51
Forecasters continually monitor the space environment to provide short-term, three-day predictions. 00:02:53
They don't have daily space weather predictions on the news, so who receives your forecasts? 00:02:59
The alerts go to a number of places such as private and commercial users as well as other government agencies such as NASA. 00:03:04
Do you send out alerts often? 00:03:11
It varies depending on the time of the solar cycle, but usually we average 20 to 30 alerts per week. 00:03:13
What's a solar cycle? 00:03:20
As you know, the Earth's weather changes over time with different seasons. The sun's weather does, too. 00:03:21
The changes on the sun are caused by the reversal of its magnetic poles. 00:03:27
I didn't realize that the poles of the sun switched. 00:03:31
Over an 11-year period, the reversal of the sun's poles completes half of its cycle. 00:03:34
During this time, the number of sunspots seen on the surface of the sun goes from high to low and then back again. 00:03:39
Sounds intense. 00:03:46
Yes. The period with lots of sunspots is intense and is called sunspot maximum. 00:03:47
The period with fewer sunspots is called sunspot minimum. 00:03:53
So during a sunspot maximum, there would be more solar flares and coronal mass ejections. 00:03:56
We would see increased auroras and more disturbances in the ionosphere, causing problems with the satellite systems. 00:04:02
Good job. I think you have it. 00:04:08
But remember that even during a sunspot minimum, there can still be lots of interference. 00:04:10
If you don't mind, I have one last question. 00:04:15
Sure. What's your question? 00:04:17
We're fairly certain that our GPS devices went crazy while we were geocaching due to a solar flare or space weather event that affected the ionosphere. 00:04:19
Is there any way we can be sure that was the cause? 00:04:26
We can find out if an alert was issued for that date, but not if the storm affected your GPS device. 00:04:29
That makes sense. 00:04:35
Let's go over to the computer and check out the website. 00:04:36
You can find out all about space weather and geomagnetic storms when you visit NOAA's Space Environment Center website. 00:04:40
NOAA confirmed that there was an alert while we were geocaching. 00:04:49
We can't be certain, but we may have solved another mystery. 00:04:52
Of course, I'm sending my report to the Trias detectives. 00:04:55
Hopefully, they will get it before they go to pick up Dr. D from the airport. 00:04:58
Look, it's Dr. D. 00:05:02
Hi, Dr. D. We solved our mystery. 00:05:07
That's great. 00:05:09
Did it have anything to do with batteries? 00:05:10
That's funny. 00:05:12
Dr. Udenwald mentioned the same thing. 00:05:13
We did have a small battery problem, but not with our GPS. 00:05:15
Batteries aren't the problem. 00:05:18
Remembering to check them can be. 00:05:20
Right. 00:05:22
To solve our GPS problem, we actually researched electricity, magnetism, and solar energy. 00:05:23
To solve our GPS problem, we actually researched electricity, magnetism, space weather, and auroras. 00:05:28
We've learned all about how GPSs work. 00:05:33
It's amazing how many new things we can learn while we're trying to find the solution to our problem. 00:05:36
I was thinking about your problem as I was watching the auroras in Norway. 00:05:40
It appears to me that the same space weather events that influenced the auroras probably also affected your GPS. 00:05:43
Dr. D, why didn't you tell us earlier? 00:05:50
We came to the same conclusion. 00:05:52
Isn't it more fun to find the solution yourself? 00:05:54
Great. Antoni's report from Colorado finally nailed it down. 00:05:56
Dr. Udenwald told us that storms on the sun can affect the ionosphere in ways that slow down the GPS signal so that the receiver reads the false distance. 00:05:59
Antoni told us that there had been a space weather advisory the day that we had the problems. 00:06:08
But don't worry, Dr. D. We know that that doesn't necessarily mean the storm caused the problem. 00:06:12
But it is a very possible solution. 00:06:17
Did you consider a multi-path signal error? 00:06:19
What's that? 00:06:22
Is it an accuracy cause when the GPS signals bounce off of buildings or large rock surfaces? 00:06:23
Well, we weren't around any buildings and I don't remember seeing any large rocks. 00:06:28
I don't mean to alarm you. I really think your explanation is probably the best in this situation. 00:06:33
I'm just trying to keep you on your toes. 00:06:38
Thanks, Dr. D. Can you tell us about the auroras that you saw? What colors were they? 00:06:41
Did they really dance around in the sky? 00:06:45
Yes, they did. Let's take one question at a time. 00:06:47
The colors of the auroras were absolutely wonderful. Mostly kind of a pale green, a little red around the corners. 00:06:50
The auroras were absolutely wonderful. Mostly kind of a pale green, a little red around the corners. 00:07:51
Mostly kind of a pale green, a little red around the corners. 00:07:57
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Idioma/s:
en
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
NASA LaRC Office of Education
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
1771
Fecha:
28 de mayo de 2007 - 15:34
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
NASAs center for distance learning
Duración:
08′ 03″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
480x360 píxeles
Tamaño:
48.40 MBytes

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