Solar Energy and its Interaction with Earth’s Atmosphere

Abstract

The Sun is responsible for many of the phenomena on Earth, including the maintenance of life. In addition, magnetic storms, capable of disrupting radio communication, and auroral displays are associated with solar events. Man-made electrical, satellite, and communication systems are affected strongly by the near-Earth space environments. The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the interaction of solar activity with the near-Earth environment. These processes can be studied by examining two sets of interactions. That is, the interaction of the solar electromagnetic output with the Earth’s neutral atmosphere, and the solar corpuscular output with the geomagnetic field. In order to understand the types of interactions one needs to know more details of the interacting components. Therefore, the near-Earth environments which comprise neutral atmospheric, ionospheric and magnetospheric regions will be discussed in relation to the direct and indirect influences of solar activity.