Severe Geomagnetic Storm Research Project:

NOAA AR 0960 became active on June 2, 2007.

Starting from that date, it had several flares, from M2.4 to M7

NOAA has predicted the possibility of some X-flares.

Geomagnetic activity has become active, and the solar wind increased.


Source: Observatory

Furthermore, solar activity caused some radio fadeouts in Europe.

For instance, an M3-flare from sunspot 960 on June 1st caused a shortwave fadeout over Europe. In the Czech Republic, Mirek Najman captured the event in this plot of a fading 3.5 MHz radio beacon.

Source:Spaceweather

At the same time, the following events are taking place on Earth:

Earthquakes:
5.1 LUZON, PHILIPPINES- JUNE 3, 2007
6.3 YUNNAN, CHINA - JUNE 2, 2007
5.0 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION - JUNE 2, 2007
Source:
USGS

Meteorology:
STORMS:
Barbara (E Pacific)
Barry (Atlantic)
Gonu (N Indian)
Some went from a Tropical Storm to a Tropical Depression and were thought to be the first hurricane of their season.
Hurricane Zone

Heat waves reach historic maximums in India, Bengala,...

Polar Cold waves in Argentina, Peru, Yemen...

Extreme weather in Ohio, Vermont and parts of Eastern Europe...

Llaima Volcano had a change of activity...

Tornadoes:
An EF3 took place in Iowa.
Further info on the Iowa Tornado: KWQC
] Muscatine Journal

Will have to keep an eye on the next events.

Wow a big one! Although since it's just coming into view from the eastern limb and the geomagnetic activity is just now starting to climb, so it would be hard to link it to any geophysical activity a day or two ago. Unless there has been more study done on solar caused gravitational waves that I haven't seen yet?

A 140,000 km wide sun spot with strong magnetic delta structure...it could get very interesting in the next 3-7 days as it rolls into geoeffective position.

Says here the sun rings like a million bells when it fires off:
Study finds cause of sun's 'right of fire' ScienceDaily

[edit on 3-6-2007 by Regenmacher]

Related ATS thread link:

BEWARE coronal mass ejections July 1 - July 10

Still waiting on Old Sol to wake up, and I haven't seen much relevant data to post, since the solar minimum started earlier this year. It's probably a good thing that tropical activity is at a lull...although that thought is with mixed blessings, since drought is taking a huge toll in California and the Georgia drought seems unreal.

Lack of solar activity has reduced precipitation in many regions, so I hope solar activity picks up soon and with it the rains return.

Surfs up soon and Happy Halloween, solar winds should increase on the 24th for minor geo-storm levels and the full moon is on the 25th.

www.solarcycle24.com...

[edit on 24-10-2007 by Regenmacher]

AngryScientist pm'ed and made this keen observation:

I've got a little observation. Off the north east coast of the united states is a weather phenomenon. The data here is 1_18_08. Here is a link to the saved conglomerate weather map.

I was wondering if there where any unusual solar emissions in the past few days or weeks that could account for the splitting of the up surge of tropical air that occurred with in the last day.

What your witnessing on the sat map is called the Pineapple Express and is very rare in a La Nina phase. Some may also argue due to global warming, all past weather modeling will become increasingly unreliable and irrelevant, so expect the unexpected.

This trade wind split could be due to the effects of the large coronal hole-CH309:

I am glad to say that because we have started a new Solar Cycle, it is very likely that solar activity will increase and therefore we will be able to carry out a better Research Project regarding the Geomagnetic storms and their effect on Earth.

Many forecasters believe Solar Cycle 24 will be big and intense. Peaking in 2011 or 2012, the cycle to come could have significant impacts on telecommunications, air traffic, power grids and GPS systems. (And don't forget the Northern Lights!) In this age of satellites and cell phones, the next solar cycle could make itself felt as never before.

I have been following this new solar cycle right from it´s start, looking forward to some action...

However, do not expect the furious storms to start right away. But we will be there, ready to research and study their consequences to share them with you.

Thanks for your visits and support.
Regards,
Ptolomeo

A new sunspot is emerging. There has been some debate if the old cycle has ended and the new one has begun. Conformation of the new cycle will be based on whether this new spot contains a different magnetic structure than those from solar cycle 23.


The lastest sunpots in March 08 had the old magnetic signature for solar cycle 23:
See here at space.com

[edit on 13-4-2008 by Regenmacher]

It' has started!

Sunspot 990 is only the second sunspot of new Solar Cycle 24. In the months ahead, new cycle spots will appear in greater size and number as solar activity emerges from its current low ebb and ascends toward the next Solar Maximum in 2011-12; then the show will really begin. Stay tuned for solar activity.

Since the new Solar Cycle 24 started, things have been very quiet in the Sun, but now, according to Spaceweather a proto-sunspot is going to appear:

A sunspot from the next solar cycle could soon appear in the sun's northern hemisphere. SOHO magnetograms show an emerging magnetic dipole with the telltale polarity of Solar Cycle 24:

external image


Even though we are only talking about a proto-sunspot, the little active region is significant and a sign that the new solar cycle is progressing.
If this means that the all quiet alert will stop and that we will see more activity on the sun from now on, only time will tell us.
But we will be keeping a close eye on it.

Still hardly any or no spots, which may mean this protracted low is typical response for a a bigger maximum.

The analysis of recent spotless days compared to historical spotless days led NASA solar physicist Dr David Hathaway to conclude that nothing is unusual about this solar minimum period. Another way to view solar minimum is to look at the duration when the smoothed sunspot number is below 20. Historically, this duration has ranged from a short 17 months to a long 96 months, with an average of 37 months. Solar Cycle 23 descended below 20 in February 2006, and Cycle 24 is predicted to ascend above 20 in early 2009. That's around 36 months, so everything appears to be pretty normal so far and agrees with Dr Hathaway's conclusion. We'll just have to be patient until Cycle 24 starts ramping up. The good news is that we have seen three sunspot regions tied to Cycle 24 (January 4, April 13 and May 5), so it's coming.

[edit on 19-8-2008 by Regenmacher]

Following the research project and in order to compare and verify the events taking place on Earth while having sunspots and/or geomagnetic storms, I would like to mention the following recent activity:

According to Spaceweather there was a bipolar active region on August 21st (and 22nd) on the Sun.

This is a bipolar active region that appeared on Aug. 21st. Pavol Rapavy took the picture from his backyard observatory in Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia. Because the sunspot lasted a short time, NOAA did not assign it a number. Nevertheless, the solar index World Data Center in Belgium recognizes the spot with a non-zero sunspot count on Aug. 21st and 22nd.

The research that I have carried out reveals that the following events happened while this sunspot was active:

August 21st. Heat wave in Chipre with high temperatures.

August 21st. Hail storms and fierce winds NE of Spain, NE of France and important damages in Turkey caused by severe storms.

August 21st. Earthquakes:

Magnitude 5.4 Chile

Magnitude 5.9 border Myanmar-China (at least 3 deaths and more than 100 injuries)

August 22nd. Earthquake:

Magnitude 6.0 Mauricio-Reunion Region

Furthermore, from August the 24th there were many tornadoes in the US.

Interesting, though of course nothing conclusive. Will have to continue our research, looking forward to having some activity on the Sun...
Regards
Ptolomeo

TS Fay also had a sudden reversal of track on the 21st which would means a large shift in the trade winds had occurred.


NASA to Explore "Secret Layer" of the Sun nasa.gov

Sept. 5, 2008: Next April, for a grand total of 8 minutes, NASA astronomers are going to glimpse a secret layer of the sun.

Researchers call it "the transition region." It is a place in the sun's atmosphere, about 5000 km above the stellar surface, where magnetic fields overwhelm the pressure of matter and seize control of the sun's gases. It's where solar flares explode, where coronal mass ejections begin their journey to Earth, where the solar wind is mysteriously accelerated to a million mph.

It is, in short, the birthplace of space weather.

The name of the telescope is SUMI, short for Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation. It was developed by astronomers and engineers at the MSFC and is currently scheduled for launch from White Sands, New Mexico, in April 2009.

[edit on 5-9-2008 by Regenmacher]

Some odd stuff lately:

NASA to Discuss Conditions on and Surrounding the Sun

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will hold a media
teleconference Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 12:30 p.m. EDT, to discuss data from
the joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses mission that reveals the
sun's solar wind is at a 50-year low. The sun's current state could result
in changing conditions in the solar system.

Ulysses was the first mission to survey the space environment above and
below the poles of the sun. The reams of data Ulysses returned have changed
forever the way scientists view our star and its effects. The venerable
spacecraft has lasted more than 17 years -- almost four times its expected
mission lifetime.

I suspect they are going to announce a severe climate change is coming.


South Pole ozone hole could be largest ever

This year's ozone hole surrounding the Southern Hemisphere's pole is shaping up to be one of the largest ever, having already surpassed the size of last year's, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

NASA Ozone Hole Watch

Looks like New Zealand is going to have some serious radiation problems.

Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low NASA

"The average pressure of the solar wind has dropped more than 20% since the mid-1990s," says Dave McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "This is the weakest it's been since we began monitoring solar wind almost 50 years ago."

Curiously, the speed of the million mph solar wind hasn't decreased much—only 3%. The change in pressure comes mainly from reductions in temperature and density. The solar wind is 13% cooler and 20% less dense.

Above: Global measurements of solar wind pressure by Ulysses. Green curves trace the solar wind in 1992-1998, while blue curves denote lower pressure winds in 2004-2008.

Talk about a turn of events and this presents a challenge towards NASA's “inferno of doom” forecast for solar cycle 24. Now some are forecasting the solar doldrums will continue into a cooling trend like the Maunder Minimum. While others still maintain this extended low cycle is a precursor to an even bigger maximum. Roll the bones...

Spotless Sun: Blankest Year of the Space Age

Astronomers who count sunspots have announced that 2008 is now the "blankest year" of the Space Age.

As of Sept. 27, 2008, the sun had been blank, i.e., had no visible sunspots, on 200 days of the year. To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go back to 1954, three years before the launch of Sputnik, when the sun was blank 241 times.

Hathaway cautions that this development may sound more exciting than it actually is: "While the solar minimum of 2008 is shaping up to be the deepest of the Space Age, it is still unremarkable compared to the long and deep solar minima of the late 19th and early 20th centuries." Those earlier minima routinely racked up 200 to 300 spotless days per year.

Sunspots Are Fewest Since 1954, but Significance Is Unclear

Scientists expect that sunspot activity will pick up in the coming months, but exactly what will happen next is open to debate. Dr. Hathaway had predicted two years ago, based on the Sun’s behavior near the end of the last cycle, that the maximum this time would be ferocious.

“I’m getting worried about that prediction now,” he said. “Normally, big cycles start early, and by doing that, they cut short the previous cycle. This one hasn’t done that.”

But many of the other competing predictions — more than 50 over all — pointed to a quieter-than-average cycle. “They do kind of go all over the map,” said Douglas Biesecker, a physicist at the Space Weather Prediction Center who led an international panel that reviewed predictions.

The solar wind is another piece of the puzzle. David J. McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio and one of the researchers who analyzed data from the Ulysses Sun-watching spacecraft, said that the strength of the solar wind seemed to be in a long-term decline. The pressure exerted by the solar wind particles during the current minimum is about a quarter weaker than during the last solar minimum, Dr. McComas said.

Increased solar activity results in decrease in hurricane intensity

A new research has suggested that increased solar activity - associated with sunspots - means more ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earths upper atmosphere, resulting in a decrease in hurricane intensity.

The idea is that increased solar activity - associated with sunspots - means more ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earths upper atmosphere. That warms the airs aloft and decreases the temperature differential between high and low elevations that otherwise would fuel hurricanes.

Our results indicate that there is an effect in the intensity of storms due to the higher temperatures aloft, said Elsner.

[edit on 3-10-2008 by Regenmacher]

Looks like we are finally ascending toward solar max. November 7th, look for a geomagnetic storm with a planetary A index of 35 due to CH346.

NEW-CYCLE SUNSPOT: Sunspot 1007, which emerged on Halloween, is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. The spot is located at high latitude, as new-cycle sunspots always are, and it has the magnetic polariity expected of a Cycle 24 active region:

From beginning to end, the month of October had four new-cycle sunspots. They emerged on Oct. 4th, 11th, 17th and 31st. In a year of almost no sunspots, four in a single month is significant. It means that the sun is beginning a slow ascent out of solar minimum to a more active phase of the sunspot cycle. Solar minimum is not a permanent condition! Readers, if you have a solar telescope, train it on sunspot 1007 to witness a sign of things to come. spaceweather.com

[edit on 4-11-2008 by Regenmacher]

Sun's Magnetic Field May Impact Weather And Climate: Sun Cycle Can Predict Rainfall Fluctuations
Source: Sciencedaily

The sun’s magnetic field may have a significant impact on weather and climatic parameters in Australia and other countries in the northern and southern hemispheres. According to a study in Geographical Research, the droughts are related to the solar magnetic phases and not the greenhouse effect.

They admit that the magnetic field of the Sun has an important impact on weather and climatic parameters on earth.
I´ve found this news really interesting.

Regards,
Ptolomeo



[edit on 3-12-2008 by Ptolomeo]

Interesting article in regards to our electromagnetic earth.

A sixth region in the magnetosphere?

As you probably know, Earth's magnetosphere, 'the invisible bubble of magnetic fields and electrically charged particles that surrounds and protects the planet from the periodically lethal radiation of the solar wind,' was discovered in 1958. Until now, it was composed of five regions, including the ionosphere or the Van Allen radiation belts. Now, a U.S. research team has discovered a sixth region, called the warm plasma cloak.

But do you have an idea of the size of the magnetosphere? "It is huge: five to six Earth diameters on the side facing the Sun, 10 to 12 diameters around and with a tail that streams more than a million miles away from the Sun. This dynamic magnetic structure shields Earth's surface from the solar wind, the stream of charged particles that continuously boils off the Sun’s surface. As the strength of the solar wind varies, the magnetosphere expands and contracts. The different regions in the magnetosphere are distinguished by the energy and behavior of the charged particles that they contain. The ions’ energy level is measured in electron volts (eV). The typical ion floating around in the air at sea level has an energy level of about one-fortieth of an eV. The energy of ions in the magnetosphere range from a few eV to millions of eV."

New tech coming for ole sol:

NASA Sees the 'Dark Side' of the Sun

"NASA's two STEREO spacecraft will be 180 degrees apart and will image the entire Sun for the first time in history."

STEREO's deployment on opposite sides of the Sun solves a problem that has vexed astronomers for centuries: At any given moment they can see only half of the stellar surface. The Sun spins on its axis once every 25 days, so over the course of a month the whole Sun does turn to face Earth, but a month is not nearly fast enough to keep track of events. Sunspots can materialize, explode, and regroup in a matter of days; coronal holes open and close; magnetic filaments stretch tight and—snap!—they explode, hurling clouds of hot gas into the solar system. Fully half of this action is hidden from view, a fact which places space weather forecasters in an awkward position. How can you anticipate storms when you can't see them coming? Likewise researchers cannot track the long-term evolution of sunspots or the dynamics of magnetic filaments because they keep ducking over the horizon at inconvenient times. STEREO's global view will put an end to these difficulties.

Sun is still rather quiet and only one sun spot is currently forming. Since it has a low latitude, it's believed to be part of the old solar cycle 23.

Coincidental or Not?

I find it rather odd that global temps have declined dramatically since we are now at the lows of solar minimum also, especially when several noted authorities have dismissed the sun as having much a factor in regards to climate change/global warming.

2008 Was Earth's Coolest Year Since 2000