Space Weather
Space weather refers to events beyond the Earth’s atmosphere that impact upon our technology and near- Earth space environment.
The primary source of space weather is the sun, with the greatest disturbances usually caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections, and the subsequent radio and geomagnetic storm activity.
While extreme space weather is a low probability event, it has the potential for far reaching, and potentially catastrophic consequences. Extreme space weather may disrupt, damage, or cause the loss of critical infrastructure and may affect technology and the near-Earth space environment by:
- causing strong variations of the Earth’s magnetic field,
- enhancing electrical fields and currents in the atmosphere and the ground,
- increasing the amount of radiation entering the upper atmosphere, and
- varying the density and stability of the upper atmosphere.
One of the effects of the above may be that critical infrastructure such as powerlines and telecommunications infrastructure may be damaged.
As space weather event will likely affect countries worldwide, the recovery period may be prolonged due to the significant international demand on replacement equipment with New Zealand potentially competing with larger markets.
