Apr 19, 2021 14:00:00

It is possible to detect the space-scale phenomenon 'solar storm' using a smartphone

When a large-scale

solar flare explosion occurs in the sun, electromagnetic waves, particle beams, and particles fall on the earth, which is called a solar storm. It has been pointed out that solar storms generate magnetic storms that disturb the earth's magnetic field and cause disruption in people's lives, but new research has shown that general smartphones can detect these magnetic storms and solar storms. It was. It has been shown that the general public can use their smartphones to participate in scientific research to prevent these confusions.

Can Smartphones Detect Geomagnetic Storms? --Odenwald ---- Space Weather --Wiley Online Library
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020SW002669

Smartphones can detect huge solar storms --The Academic Times
https://academictimes.com/smartphones-can-detect-huge-solar-storms/

Solar storms usually do not have a significant impact on humankind, but it has been pointed out that large-scale solar storms can cause magnetic storms that affect power lines and cause power outages or cause accidents at substations. I am.

What are the solar activities 'solar flare' and 'coronal mass ejection' that can have a great impact on the earth? --GIGAZINE

According to new research results, iOS and Android devices can logically detect solar storms and magnetic storms. Many smartphones are equipped with a magnetometer to enable the compass function, which is to detect changes in magnetism.

Astronomer Sten Odenwald of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center conducted this study to find out how the general public could be more involved in science. “Smartphones, at least in theory, should be able to detect some of the strongest storms fairly easily,” Odenwald said. People living in areas above 38 degrees north latitude in North America, including Canada and Minnesota, are particularly easy to detect.

The compass function of smartphones is different from the GPS function, and is used for displaying the user's orientation and position on a map while walking around, and for 'sharing location information' on the iPhone. The compass function detects the earth's magnetic field, but since magnetic storms disturb this magnetic field, Mr. Odenwald thought that solar storms could be detected by detecting the disturbance of the magnetic field.

Odenwald conducted his first experiment with a smartphone in 2017 and detected some geomagnetic storms, but at the time he couldn't make a definite conclusion. After that, we succeeded in detecting solar storms by conducting experiments with another approach. Specifically, when we checked whether 'medium' and 'intensity' magnetic storms could be measured at three different latitudes, it was shown that very strong solar storms could be detected at specific locations in the Northern Hemisphere. That is.

Devices and software that use magnetometers are expected to continue to be developed, but they can be adversely affected by phenomena that occur in space.

For example, a medical app that uses a magnetometer has been developed and is used in surgery, and if it is disturbed by a magnetic storm, the patient can be seriously damaged. Considering these possibilities, it is necessary to develop a magnetometer that is not affected by solar storms in the future. For this reason as well, it is important for the general public to detect solar storms and magnetic storms with smartphones and send them to scientists to visualize 'what kind of impact magnetic storms will have on a global scale.' Said Odenwald.