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Space Weather

Climate & Space names three new Associate Chairs

The new positions will assist the Department Chair on strategic initiatives and goals. |Short Read
CYGNSS in orbit

Deciphering GPS satellites to see inside hurricanes

To dial in on exact wind speeds, researchers needed to reverse engineering the signals from satellites.|Medium Read
Digital illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun

Key Parker Solar Probe sensor bests sun simulator—last launch hurdle

With old IMAX projector bulbs, Michigan Engineers simulate the sun.|Medium Read
SMAP artist's concept

SMAP Update: A mission to manage water globally

The satellite mission to collect global data of surface soil moisture can help weather forecasting around the world.|Medium Read
a photo of a meteor in the sky

Meteor over Michigan: How dangerous are space hazards like bolides?

Around 8 pm on Jan. 16, people across Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio witnessed a meteor exploding in Earth's atmosphere. |Short Read
Two professors in chairs talking

CLASP celebrates 2017 Nelson W. Spencer Lecture

Professor Margaret Kivelson’s lecture titled, "Magnetic Structures in the Solar System" was followed by a conversation with daughter U-M Professor Valerie A. Kivelson. |Short Read

Solar storm: U-M model’s predictions ‘a remarkable achievement’

A space weather tool Michigan Engineers developed was used to produce animations that show predictions of how the recent storm would distort Earth’s magnetic field. |Medium Read
Climate & Space Sciences and Engineering logo

Airborne nuclear tests can mimic solar storms

Humans can influence space weather.|Short Read
image of a coronal mass ejection

Forecasting solar storms

To forecast potentially catastrophic space weather, NASA uses a software framework developed at the University of Michigan. |Short Read
A model of the activity in the magnetosphere of a planet when there is a solar storm. Model: University of Michigan

Solar storms: Regional forecasts now possible

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Rice University have developed a new tool to help forecast solar storms and their effects on the power grid and communication satellites.|Medium Read
Satellite imagery of a solar storm

Smallsats could help predict solar storms

The Sun can be a destructive neighbor, and Thomas Zurbuchen weighs in on space-based sensors to provide timely and accurate warning of approaching CMEs.|Short Read
a dark city with the words "lights out"

Lights Out

The power goes out. The aurorae stretch to the tropics. Could a major solar storm mean a year without electricity? |Long Read