Finding out how solar flares affect life on Earth

“Solar flares have a big impact on the Earth’s atmosphere. By processing all the available data from satellites and ground-based sources, we can begin to foresee the possible harm that flares can cause,” says HESPE project coordinator Michele Piana, a professor of numerical analysis at the University of Genoa in Italy.

Flares, for example, can interfere with aircraft navigation, forcing planes to reroute away from the poles and towards the equator. Better information on the effects of flares could make it easier for pilots to manage these adjustments, smoothing air traffic worldwide. This is a prime example of how enhanced data on solar flares could provide tangible benefits for life on Earth.

These solar explosions are thought to be triggered by changes in the shape of magnetic fields that encircle the Sun. “For the first time, explains Piana, researchers have been able to detect these changes to a level of clarity not previously achieved.” This is an example of how the HESPE team could use all available data and open new insights into the behaviour of solar flares. “One of the nicest things about our database is the ability to make statistical analyses of the flares,” says Piana. “This has not been done before.”

HESPE’s novel analytical methods are expected to be adaptable to STIX, an X-ray telescope planned to be mounted on the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, scheduled to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in 2017. “Even beyond this,” comments Piana, “our methods could be used for all future satellite missions that involve high-energy measurements.”

Though the first solar flare was observed more than 150 years ago – noticed and recorded by British amateur astronomer Richard Carrington – scientists still cannot predict when they will occur, nor do they fully understand their causes or mechanisms.

HESPE – or High energy solar physics data in Europe – involved a team of researchers from Europe and the United States to share all available information on solar flares with a wide audience of astrophysicists, solar physicists and others in the scientific community.