Solar Weather Explorer

Background

• Sunspot activity is correlated with the frequency of 'geomagnetic storms', disturbances caused by solar wind
  • Extreme storms, such as occurred in 1859 or 1921, come about every 100 years and could decimate the modern power grid [1,2]
• Visualizing these correlations can help us better understand them

[1] Kappenman, J. 'A perfect storm of planetary proportions.' IEEE Spectrum. [2] Behr, P. 'This week's solar flare illuminates the grid's vulnerability'. New York Times.

The Solar Weather Explorer

• Lets user drag slider to visualize variation in sunspot activity for any range of years in the historical record
• Lets user check box to see when severe solar storms from 1859 to 2012 occurred

The Solar Weather Explorer

• Graph labeling and tick marks automatically switch from years to months when intervals of 5 years or less are selected
• Calculates number of severe storms observed within selected date range

The Solar Weather Explorer

• Calculates number of severe storms within selected date range

#Example calculation -- severe storm count from 1900 to 1938
storms <- read.table("severestorms.txt", header=T)
storms$date <- storms$year + (storms$month - 1)/12
sum(storms$date >= 1900 & storms$date <= 1938)

## [1] 34

The Solar Weather Explorer

• Facilitates understanding of relationship between sunspot trends and storm frequency