Space Weather impacts

Space Weather encompasses the conditions and processes occurring in space, including on the sun, in the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, which have the potential to affect the near-Earth environment.

The effects of Space Weather can range from damage to satellites arising from charged particles to disruption of power grids on Earth during geomagnetic storms, radio black-out on trans-polar aircraft routes, or disturbance of satellite positioning systems. Space Weather monitoring, study and applications are more and more important with the increasing use of space in day-to-day life for telecommunications, observation and navigation.

Aurora Borealis is a visible space weather phenomenon

WMO's involvement in Space Weather

In June 2008, the WMO Executive Council (EC-LX) noted the considerable impact of Space Weather on meteorological infrastructure and important human activities and acknowledged the potential synergy between meteorological and Space Weather services to operational users. The Council agreed that WMO should support international coordination of Space Weather activities and urged WMO Members to provide corresponding resources through secondments and Trust Fund donations.

In May 2010, WMO established the Interprogramme Coordination Team on Space Weather (ICTSW) with a mandate to support Space Weather observation, data exchange, product and services delivery, and operational applications. ICTSW currently (February 2013) involves experts from 20 different countries and 7 international organizations.
(Click here for details on ICTSW status and activities)

In May 2011, the World Meteorological Congress (Cg-XVI) acknowledged the need for a coordinated effort by WMO Membersto address the observing and service requirements to protect the society against the global hazards of Space Weather. (See Statement on Global preparedness for Space Weather Hazards.)

Recent achievements

* Space Weather Observational Requirements (July 2011)

* Space Weather Product Portal (February 2012)

* Statement of Guidance for Space Weather Observations (May 2012)

Space Weather reports and articles

The potential role of WMO in Space Weather
A report on the potential scope, cost and benefit of a WMO activity in support of international coordination of Space Weather services, prepared for the 60th Executive Council, WMO Space Programme, April 2008
(SP-5, WMO-TD N° 1482)

Related links

International Space Environment Service (ISES). The main objective of ISES is to facilitate international monitoring and prediction of the space environment. The ISES web site includes links to thirteen Space Weather Regional Warning Centres and Associate Centres.