Chapter 24 - Recent Geoeffective Space Weather Events and Technological System Impacts

Abstract

On February 27, 2014, the U.S. Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) navigation service covering eastern Alaska and the northeastern continental United States, and the similar European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) covering northern Europe were both degraded due to a strong ionospheric storm that occurred during a relatively modest geomagnetic storm (Dstmin≈−94nT). Similarly, on March 17, 2015, the St. Patrick's Day strong geomagnetic storm (Dstmin≈−223nT) resulted in the most intense storm of the solar cycle to date with mid-latitude auroral sightings, and intense ionospheric irregularities. Finally, on June 22, 2015, a strong geomagnetic storm (Dstmin≈−204nT) commenced following the impact of 3 coronal mass ejections (CMEs). All three events resulted in impacts to WAAS and EGNOS services over important coverage areas. This chapter focuses on operational data products available from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) for assessing the state of the space environment. We describe observations of the solar disk and the geospace radiation environment, and predictions of the energy input into the auroral region, and the resulting ionosphere response. We demonstrate that operational data help to follow the chain of events from Sun-to-Earth leading to disruptive space weather effects to technological systems such as spacecraft operations, radio communication, and aviation products. This chapter culminates in a discussion of how these storms impacted U.S. and European aviation systems. We emphasize: (i) significant degradation in performance of technological systems has been observed for three geomagnetic storms with Dstmin≲−100nT, and (ii) if historically extreme events (e.g., a Carrington-like event) occurred today they, would lead to much more adverse effects for the considered systems.