PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
Contact: John G. Watson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 1997
JPL WEB SITE FEATURES IMAGES OF EARTH'S IONOSPHERE
Images of the Earth's ionosphere as it changes in response
to solar activity are now available at a new web site managed by
scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The site address is http://sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov/gpsiono/press.html
Informative, color-coded global maps are updated every hour,
24 hours a day. On April 10-11, during a major solar flare,
images were updated every 15 minutes, resulting in the first-ever
real-time publication of global images of the Earth's ionosphere
as it rapidly changed during a major geomagnetic storm.
Within a few days of the April disturbance, additional
information on the site included more complete global electron
content maps and analysis, revealing such major storm features
as: the doubling of electron content in the initial phase of the
storm, followed by depletions; the presence of steep gradients in
content that can distort short-wave communications paths; and the
global distribution of ionospheric irregularities (small-scale
structures that can severely disrupt radio communications).
The continuously updated information was based on
ionospheric data extracted from transmissions of the Department
of Defense (DoD) Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The
site, opened in early April, is funded by the National Science
Foundation, in cooperation with the University of Michigan's
Space Research Laboratory.
The site can serve as an important resource for astronomers,
weather forecasters and others involved in atmospheric science,
for the impact of future storms will be mapped as they happen and
made available to all via the Internet.
Dr. Ulf Lindqwister, supervisor of JPL's GPS Networks and
Ionospheric Systems Development group, explains, "Space storms,
caused by large eruptions on the surface of the Sun that catapult
charged particles toward Earth in a cloud of magnetized gas can
have significant impact on expensive advanced technology systems
operating in or communicating through space. Mapping on the JPL
web site will provide critical information for operating those
systems, thus playing an increasingly important role in future
space weather monitoring operations."
The JPL unit originating the site is the Telecommunications
Science and Engineering Section, whose sponsors include the DoD,
the Office of the Pentagon, the Air Force's 55th Space Weather
Squadron and the U.S. Navy.
For further information, call Lindqwister at (818) 354-1734.