A live research dashboard for space weather: observations of the Sun, the solar wind and Earth’s surroundings, shown next to forecasts from our own models – and each forecast is scored against what was actually observed afterwards.
Currently open to project members only (password required); a public version will follow.
Aims
- Show the operational side of our research on the heliosphere and on the transport of solar energetic particles.
- One place for researchers, students and the interested public to see the current state of the heliosphere.
- Submit our own forecasts to the public CCMC Solar Wind Scoreboard, where they can be compared with those of other institutions.
Approach
Live data from operational providers (NOAA SWPC, NASA, ESA, CCMC, SIDC) are combined with models run at RUB:
- two three-dimensional MHD models of the heliosphere, CRONOS and SWMF/AWSoM-R, for the solar wind;
- a nowcast and a daily all-clear probability for solar energetic particles;
- forecasts of solar images and of the solar wind from the Surya foundation model;
- MHD models of the magnetospheres of Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars.
Every model has its own page on how it is built and how well it does, including its known biases. The dashboard is a research preview, not an operational service: for mission-critical use, NOAA SWPC, ESA and SIDC remain the reference.
People
Project lead: Prof. Dr. Maria Elena Innocenti