About the project:
Space weather effects near-Earth and in planetary environments are driven by intense flashes of radiation, known as solar flares and large eruptions of plasma and magnetic field, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the million-degree atmosphere of the Sun and other stars. Magnetic reconnection processes during solar flares and shocks driven by CMEs can accelerate particles (mainly protons) to very high energies (up to GeV). Such high energy particles, known as solar energetic particles (SEPs), pose a severe radiation risk for spaceflight and aviation, and a significant threat to technological assets in space and on the ground. SEPs have also been found to influence the atmospheric chemistry and electricity at Earth and other planets. Understanding the hazardous environment caused by SEP events and predicting their occurrence is becoming increasingly important due to upcoming, long-term human space exploration missions planned to travel to the Moon and Mars. To track and forecast SEPs, recently launched missions in the inner heliosphere, such as Solar Orbiter (SolO), Parker Solar Probe (PSP), JUICE and BepiColombo, now include energetic particle detectors onboard. Novel, state-of-the-art 3-dimensional solar wind models are being developed to forecast SEP fluences throughout the inner heliosphere, along with atmospheric radiation dosage models for the aviation industry. This ISSI team aims to bring together research across multiple disciplines to quantify the influences and risks intense SEP events can have on Earth, planetary bodies, human life and technology.
Image © by NASA