Weather agency to prep for peak in solar activity next year

The Korean government will set up a national consultative body on space weather as early as July to brace for an expected peak in solar activity next year.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said Thursday that the decision was made under the judgment that massive radiation storms will grow frequent if the sun’s activity peaks next year.

○ Risks generated by peak in solar activity

The state-run agency said the sun’s activity will peak in May and July next year. NASA has also urged countries to prepare countermeasures for the increasing solar activity.

The number of sunspots changes in an 11-year cycle, according to the weather agency. A radiation storm occurs when an explosion of sunspots releases high-energy plasma particles.

The peak in solar activity refers to the period when the sun has the largest number of sunspots. Since the latest peak period of 2002 to 2003, the sun remained stable through 2010 when few sunspots were detected. In 2011, however, the number of sunspots began growing and began a rapid rise. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued Monday an "S3" warning, the third highest for radiation storms after a solar explosion and the ensuing space storm that occurred Monday morning, Korean standard time. An S3 is issued when radiation storms affect low-orbit satellites or high-frequency communications.

The peak in solar activity increases solar flares, or abrupt releases of massive energy from the sun’s surface, and corona mass ejections, or massive releases of protons and neutrons from the sun’s surface. This causes malfunctioning of artificial satellites and hinders wireless communications by disrupting the Earth’s magnetic field.

A source from the Korea Meteorological Administration said, “Due to X-rays and high-energy particles generated by solar explosions, those less protected by the Earth’s magnetic field, such as airplane passengers, can be exposed to solar radiation. Voltage differences among electricity cables due to change to the Earth’s magnetic field can damage power transmission facilities and cause large-scale blackouts.” A massive solar flare in 1989 caused blackouts in Quebec, Canada, by burning a number of electric transformers.

○ Bad influence on the human body

The peak in solar activity can also affect the human body, according to experts. Moon Yong-jae, an astronomy professor at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, said, “Studies show that disruption of the Earth’s magnetic field due to solar storms can worsen heart disease by affecting electrolytes in the body.”

The Korea Meteorological Administration will establish a joint consultative body with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the National Radio Research Agency to predict when and what scale the sun will erupt. They will calculate the time of arrival of solar radiation to the Earth and the scope of their effects, and devise measures for each field based on data from 87 observatories nationwide and satellites of other countries.

Based on the calculation, the weather agency will urge airlines to avoid passing through the North Pole and change air routes to those of low altitude. Telecommunications companies and broadcasters will inform people of potential disruption of communications and broadcasting. In addition, satellites will stop running to prevent high-energy particles from the sun from clashing with solar cell panels.

Won Jae-gwan, an official at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said, “With the use of satellites and GPS skyrocketing, unprecedented damage could happen at the peak in solar activity. We need to be well-prepared for this.”

zozo@donga.com