In Iraq, Solar Storms Play Havoc With Communication

[M2]

We were discussing this a few days ago:

"On today's digital battlefield, where AA batteries are almost as critical as bullets, researchers are looking for ways to forecast "weather" conditions hundreds of miles up where satellites orbit. Over the past decade, scientists have focused much of their effort on forecasting the effects of large outbursts from the sun, which can fry satellite circuits and trigger surges in earthbound utility transmission lines.

Now, military and civilian researchers are paying increased attention to turbulence in Earth's ionosphere, which can weaken navigation, intelligence, and other signals until they vanish under useless noise. While solar storms can aggravate these effects, they can appear almost daily with or without a major solar eruption.

In Iraq, "all of our operations are very finely tuned" to minimize civilian casualties, notes US Air Force Capt. Kelly Doser, currently working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Because today's weapons that rely on navigation satellites for guidance, "any little thing that creeps in could have a very heavy impact on how the mission is done."

more...http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0331/p15s01-woiq.html

[Arizwx]

We were discussing this a few days ago:

"On today's digital battlefield, where AA batteries are almost as critical as bullets, researchers are looking for ways to forecast "weather" conditions hundreds of miles up where satellites orbit. Over the past decade, scientists have focused much of their effort on forecasting the effects of large outbursts from the sun, which can fry satellite circuits and trigger surges in earthbound utility transmission lines.

Now, military and civilian researchers are paying increased attention to turbulence in Earth's ionosphere, which can weaken navigation, intelligence, and other signals until they vanish under useless noise. While solar storms can aggravate these effects, they can appear almost daily with or without a major solar eruption.

In Iraq, "all of our operations are very finely tuned" to minimize civilian casualties, notes US Air Force Capt. Kelly Doser, currently working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Because today's weapons that rely on navigation satellites for guidance, "any little thing that creeps in could have a very heavy impact on how the mission is done."

more...http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0331/p15s01-woiq.html

This is very reassuring information.I'll sleep better tonight knowing that a US ICBM could toast Moscow due to a Solar Flareup Faux Pas.
C'est le Vie!

[M2]

Arizwx wrote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M2 wrote:
We were discussing this a few days ago:

"On today's digital battlefield, where AA batteries are almost as critical as bullets, researchers are looking for ways to forecast "weather" conditions hundreds of miles up where satellites orbit. Over the past decade, scientists have focused much of their effort on forecasting the effects of large outbursts from the sun, which can fry satellite circuits and trigger surges in earthbound utility transmission lines.

Now, military and civilian researchers are paying increased attention to turbulence in Earth's ionosphere, which can weaken navigation, intelligence, and other signals until they vanish under useless noise. While solar storms can aggravate these effects, they can appear almost daily with or without a major solar eruption.

In Iraq, "all of our operations are very finely tuned" to minimize civilian casualties, notes US Air Force Capt. Kelly Doser, currently working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Because today's weapons that rely on navigation satellites for guidance, "any little thing that creeps in could have a very heavy impact on how the mission is done."

more...http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/03 ... -woiq.html


This is very reassuring information.I'll sleep better tonight knowing that a US ICBM could toast Moscow due to a Solar Flareup Faux Pas.
C'est le Vie!

Moscow ?... Not exactly a short skip away from Baghdad unless this is a new conversation, but the missiles have to be 'fired' before havoc could be realized due to Solar activity....and I don't think that Moscow is our biggest concern today. Baghdad is. During the (short) night, it seems that the Iraqi Information Minister threatened that they were going to do something 'unconventional not usual' or seen in this war yet (or...to that effect) - which could portend Chemical weapons, WMDs or large murderous activities. Propaganda? Fact? If the fedayeen (sp) is camped out in each civilian house to 'protect' Iraqi citizens (sure) then you know what comes next - - they murder their own people, blame the coalition, mass casualities, boobytraps - last-ditch desperate "Hail Mary' measures. The Info Minister basically admitted to killing their own power to make it harder for us to assess the situation at night. Granted we have the best night vision equipment in existence, but they're cornered. Mad dogs don't make nice pets to walk on Saturday...

[Arizwx]

Arizwx wrote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M2 wrote:
We were discussing this a few days ago:

"On today's digital battlefield, where AA batteries are almost as critical as bullets, researchers are looking for ways to forecast "weather" conditions hundreds of miles up where satellites orbit. Over the past decade, scientists have focused much of their effort on forecasting the effects of large outbursts from the sun, which can fry satellite circuits and trigger surges in earthbound utility transmission lines.

Now, military and civilian researchers are paying increased attention to turbulence in Earth's ionosphere, which can weaken navigation, intelligence, and other signals until they vanish under useless noise. While solar storms can aggravate these effects, they can appear almost daily with or without a major solar eruption.

In Iraq, "all of our operations are very finely tuned" to minimize civilian casualties, notes US Air Force Capt. Kelly Doser, currently working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Because today's weapons that rely on navigation satellites for guidance, "any little thing that creeps in could have a very heavy impact on how the mission is done."

more...http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/03 ... -woiq.html


This is very reassuring information.I'll sleep better tonight knowing that a US ICBM could toast Moscow due to a Solar Flareup Faux Pas.
C'est le Vie!

Moscow ?... Not exactly a short skip away from Baghdad unless this is a new conversation, but the missiles have to be 'fired' before havoc could be realized due to Solar activity....and I don't think that Moscow is our biggest concern today. Baghdad is. During the (short) night, it seems that the Iraqi Information Minister threatened that they were going to do something 'unconventional not usual' or seen in this war yet (or...to that effect) - which could portend Chemical weapons, WMDs or large murderous activities. Propaganda? Fact? If the fedayeen (sp) is camped out in each civilian house to 'protect' Iraqi citizens (sure) then you know what comes next - - they murder their own people, blame the coalition, mass casualities, boobytraps - last-ditch desperate "Hail Mary' measures. The Info Minister basically admitted to killing their own power to make it harder for us to assess the situation at night. Granted we have the best night vision equipment in existence, but they're cornered. Mad dogs don't make nice pets to walk on Saturday...

I was using the absurd to describe any number of horrific outcomes..I was not speaking literally.
Moscow came to mind as I am a Cold 'War' Baby.Tehran or Ankara may have been better examples.
At this point,the facts that you shared are valuable and facinating and I thank you.
I may leave this MB soon,as many of my posts,threads,responses or sarcasm are not recieved well.
Be Well M2..and again..I do apologise sincerly for 31DEC.
Take Care old friend.

[M2]

Arizwx wrote: ...many of my posts,threads,responses or sarcasm are not recieved well...

It's Friday - go grab a Mocha Grande at Starbucks & the world will take on a new hue :Fade-color You live for sarcasm; why change?

[Arizwx]

Arizwx wrote: ...many of my posts,threads,responses or sarcasm are not recieved well...

It's Friday - go grab a Mocha Grande at Starbucks & the world will take on a new hue :Fade-color You live for sarcasm; why change?

You would mention Starbucks!You know well the area that I live in,welllllllllllllllllllll.Guess what?A brand new Starbucks just opened up last week at the corner of 1st and Oracle..where the new Albertsons/Home Depot was built.Within walking distance for myself and my loyal Cocker Spaniel 'Franklin'.A Latte and a Coissant would do my soul a world of good.Next time you are near Beverely Hills 85737...stop in there.
Thanks for the suggestion!
D.J.

[Aslkahuna]

what can go wrong that is the worse case is that we would get a very major Geomagnetic Storm/Proton event that would seriously mess up the transionospheric propagation of the signals from the GPS satellite constellation resulting in their ability to provide accurate postioning and timing all the while rendering the VLF/LF Navaids systems unusuable for aircraft navigation. Most radio communications worldwide would be disrupted and there could be problems with satellites as well. Such disturbances are the result of very energetic Solar flares primarily as the relativistic protons generated reach the Earth and the shock front and turbulent solar wind flow associated with the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the flare hit our magnetosphere. Such disturbances can last days. In the shorter term, the X-Ray and radio bursts from the flares themselves can cause Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID's) which can result in system disruptions over the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth which can last up to several hours. In 1991, we are at Solar Max and we had a number of very major events-as we did in 2001 which was another Max. We are now in the pre-Minimum phase of Cycle 23 and major Solar Flares are becoming rarer for now. However, during Solar Min, we have recurrent Coronal Holes that can cause Gemag storms but they are usually of lesser intensity (though longer duration) than those associated with impulsive events. In fact, we have had at least two CH's during the period of the current military operation. During the current cycle, we had far better monitoring capapbility than we have had for the previous ones so our forecasting has improved. For the next cycle, we are supposed to have even better monitors in place and we should be able to do even better. But as in every other type of forecasting, it's still up to the forecaster to make the final call. During my years of doing this I made some real outstanding calls and some not so good ones but my record is a good one overall.

Steve
8)

[M2]

Wait a minute you guys - last week you both *crushed* my other post for saying that weapons systems were affected by Solar activity