[Grad-postdoc-assn] ASP Seminar on Wed. Oct 26 at 11:00

[Nick Pedatella]

Dan Baker (CU/LASP) will be giving the ASP Seminar on Wednesday Oct. 26 at
11:00. The seminar will be held in the CG1 South Auditorium. He will be
joining us for lunch immediately following the seminar in the CG1
cafeteria. The title and abstract follow.


Title: The Impacts of Space Weather on Society and the Economy

Abstract: This talk describes possible extreme space weather impacts and
their economic and societal costs. Modern society depends heavily on a
variety of technologies that are vulnerable to the effects of intense
geomagnetic storms and solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Strong
currents flowing in the ionosphere can disrupt and damage Earth-based
electric power grids and contribute to the accelerated corrosion of oil
and gas pipelines. Magnetic storm-driven ionospheric disturbances
interfere with high-frequency radio communications and navigation signals
from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. Exposure of spacecraft to
solar particles and radiation belt enhancements can cause temporary
operational anomalies, damage critical electronics, degrade solar arrays,
and blind optical systems such as imagers and star trackers. Moreover,
intense SEP events present a significant radiation hazard for astronauts
during the high-latitude segment of the International Space Station (ISS)
orbit as well as for future human explorers of the Moon and Mars. In
addition to such direct effects as spacecraft anomalies or power grid
outages, a thorough assessment of the impact of severe space weather
events on present-day society must include the collateral effects of
space-weather-driven technology failures. For example, polar cap
absorption events due to solar particles can degrade - and, during severe
events, completely black out - radio communications along transpolar
aviation routes, requiring aircraft flying these routes to be diverted to
lower latitudes. This can add considerable cost to the airlines and can
greatly inconvenience passengers. Modern technological society is
characterized by a complex set of interdependencies among its critical
infrastructures. A complete picture of the socioeconomic impact of severe
space weather must include both direct as well as collateral effects of
space-weather-driven technology failures on dependent infrastructures and
services.