N5PA Website

N5PA Propagation Page

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Solar Indicies
Solar Flux:	255	Sunspot#:	183	HF Indicators			VHF Indicators
A-Index:	5 Ap	K-Index:	1 Kp	Band	Day	Night	Item	Status
Geomag Fld:	VR QUIET	Sig Noise:	S0-S1	80m-40m	Poor	Good	Aurora:	Band Closed
X-Ray:	M3.4	Solar Wind:	336.7 KM/Sec	30m-20m	Good	Good	2m EU Es:	Band Closed
Flare Class:	M	Proton Flux:	4590 keV	17m-15m	Good	Good	2m NA Es:	Band Closed
Electron Flux:	7150 keV	Magnetic Fld:	BZ: -2.2nT	12m-10m	Good	Poor	6m Eu Es:	Band Closed
Aurora:	3/n=1.99	Aurora Lat:	65.6°	304A:	167.8 @ SEM		4m EU Es:	Band Closed
MUF:	NoRptMHz	foF2:	MHz	MUF Factor:	MHz

Solar Data Provided by N0NBH

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Current Solar Conditions

XRay Flare Class:	M   Large
Geomagnetic Field:	1   Quiet

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U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

3-Day Solar Forecast

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U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center

27-Day Solar Forecast

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Latest CME Model (Goddard)

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Space Weather Overview

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Space Weather Alerts and Warnings Timeline

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Latest Observations

Global Real Time Ionospheric foF2 Map

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Sunspot/Flux Chart

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NOAA Geophysical Alert Chart

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SolarMonitor.org - Numbered Sunspot Regions and Plages

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Time and Date - Gray Line Map

Click on Map to see Larger View.

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Latest Picture of Sun		SDO/HMI Continuum Image
SOHO EIT 193		Solar Synoptic Map
HMI Magnetogram		AIA 211

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Solar Cycle Progression		Solar Indices by Month for Last 5 Years Solar Lists & Charts
Solar Cycle 10.7cm Radio Flux Progression		Solar Cycle Ap Progression
Estimated Planetary Kp - 3 days/3 hourly		Boulder-NOAA Magnetometer - 12 hours/1-min

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Auroral Activity Extrapolated from NOAA POES

Northern Hemi Auroral Map

Southern Hemi Auroral Map

Instruments on board the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) continually monitor the power flux carried by the protons and electrons that produce aurora in the atmosphere. SWPC has developed a technique that uses the power flux observations obtained during a single pass of the satellite over a polar region (which takes about 25 minutes) to estimate the total power deposited in an entire polar region by these auroral particles. The power input estimate is converted to an auroral activity index that ranges from 1 to 10.

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Geomagnetic Indices and Conditions

Kp Index	Ap Index	Geomagnetic Field Conditions	HF Noise	Aurora
0	0 - 2	Very Quiet	S1-S2	None
1	3 - 5	Quiet	S1-S2	Very Low
2	6 - 9	Quiet	S1-S2	Very Low
3	12 - 18	Unsettled	S2-S3	Low
4	22 - 32	Active	S3-S4	Moderate
5	39 - 56	MINOR Storm	S4-S6	High
6	67 - 94	MAJOR Storm	S6-S9	Very High
7	111 -154	SEVERE Storm	S9+	Very High
8	179 -236	SEVERE Storm	Blackout	Extreme
9	300 -400	EXTREMELY SEVERE	Blackout	Extreme

Kp - Planetary K-index, averaged over past 3 hours and tends to be a measure of current conditions

Ap - Planetary A-index, 24-hour average and represents overall geomagnetic field conditions for the UTC day

HF Noise - Approximate "S-meter" noise level <10 MHz

Aurora- Approximate level of auroral activity

• High conditions usually extends to: Latitude 45 deg.
• Very High conditions extends to about: Latitude 35 deg.
• Extreme conditions can extend to below: Latitude 35 deg.

Solar Wind-averages 350-450 km/sec and density <10 p/cm^3 >500 km/sec or high density can trigger geomagnetic activity

Shock Wave- from a solar flare or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) arrives at the Earth about 55 hours after the solar event.

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Solar Flare Classifications

Flare Class	Type of Flare	HF Radio Effects	Resulting Geomagnetic Storm
A	Very small	None	None
B	Small	None	None
C	Moderate	* Low absorption	* Active to Minor
M	Large	* High absorption	* Minor to Major
X	Extreme	* Possible blackout	* Major to Severe

(*) - Conditions cited if Earth is in trajectory of flare emissions

Flare class further rated from 1-9, ex. M1, M2, M3 ... M9

The larger the number, the larger the flare within that class

An X7 - X9 is considered a "Grand daddy" flare. Only a few have occured over the past 30 years, causing total dispruption to communications, huge aurora's, power grid failures, etc.
Radio and x-ray emissions from a flare effect the Earth for the duration of the solar event, usually 30 minutes or less.

Earth is 8 light-minutes from the Sun.

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Sunspot/Active Region Classifications

Sunspot Class	Description of the Active Region	Potential for Flare Activity
Alpha	Unorganized, unipolar magnetic fields	Little threat, but watched for growth
Beta	Bipolar magnetic fields between sun spots	C class flares and possible large M class
Delta	Strong, compact bipolar fields between spots	High potential for a M or X class major flare Major Flare Alert issued

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