Illustrative: dipole field lines compressed by the solar wind, the magnetopause and the auroral ovals
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Hazards, Disasters and Resilience · Department of Hazard Science
Solar storms, induced currents and objects from space
Space weather and extraterrestrial hazards
Some hazards start at the Sun.
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- Department of Hazard Science
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- Solar flares, coronal mass ejections and solar energetic particles
- Geomagnetic storms and the NOAA scales
- Geomagnetically induced currents in power grids
- Effects on satellites, GNSS and high-frequency radio
- Radiation at aviation altitudes
- Space weather forecasting and solar wind monitors at L1
- Near-Earth objects, impact probability and the Torino scale
- Planetary defence and the asteroid warning network
- Preparedness for severe space weather
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow space weather and extraterrestrial hazards on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
- Terrain 59 to 3,044 m
- 2 reference earthquakes, M7.5 to M7.8
- 3,643,786 people in the box, 2020
- Earthquakes M4.5 and above, past week: read live when the 3D twin opens
- USGS ShakeMap intensity contours: read live when the 3D twin opens
Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
Flat plan of the same data: relief, the two epicentres with magnitude and depth, the WorldPop count grid and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
Earth observation in the Andes
True-colour imagery, land cover, vegetation, snow and sea ice, over the Andes.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 1
Earth observation
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
Earth observation, framed on the Andes.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (10 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Snow cover: VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Sea ice concentration: GHRSST MUR, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies
The field and its scope
For grid operators, satellite and aviation planners, national risk assessors and forecasters who need to read a geomagnetic storm or near-Earth object alert and know what it means for the systems they run.
Quantities and units
Methods and their limits
Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.
What the field debates
Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish
Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.
From a coronal mass ejection to a grid operator's decision: how a field rate of change becomes a transformer current
A coronal mass ejection's speed sets how many hours an operator has; the storm's rate of change of the magnetic field, through the ground's resistivity, induces a geoelectric field; the network geometry turns that field into a direct current in transformer neutrals; the current against a withstand limit sets the operating decision.
Sources: Pulkkinen et al., Geomagnetically induced currents: science, engineering, and applications readiness (2017); Tsurutani, Gonzalez, Lakhina and Alex, The extreme magnetic storm of 1–2 September 1859 (2003); Riley, On the probability of occurrence of extreme space weather events (2012); Oughton et al., Quantifying the daily economic impact of extreme space weather due to failure in electricity transmission infrastructure (2017).
At a glance, hub and courses
Space weather and extraterrestrial hazards at a glance
risksacademy.comhazards-resiliencediscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 0
- Subtopics, 9
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Space weather and extraterrestrial hazards, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
Courses in this discipline
Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.
The course catalogue lists every open course of the Academy.
How Space weather and extraterrestrial hazards is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
Practice, learning and connections
How technology helps and what risk it brings
Achievements in this discipline
Course achievements
One for each course with this as its primary discipline, earned when you pass the course's assessed activities.
Department: Hazard Science
Earn two discipline achievements in the Department of Hazard Science. In development.
An achievement is a record of the learning completed and assessed here. How recognition works.
Where the subject is practised
A field platform page on this subject is in development.
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-EWS systemSpace weather alerts are warnings judged by how they verifyWarning Desk room
- NXS-SIG systemGeomagnetic storms degrade positioning, navigation and timingPNT Integrity room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Across the ecosystem
Take part in Hazards, Disasters and Resilience
Start from who you are.
Core references and where to begin
Start with Hapgood, then Tsurutani, then Riley.
Questions, answers and key terms
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Where do the data and the places come from?
How do I take part beyond the courses in space weather and extraterrestrial hazards?
Key terms
Coronal mass ejection
A large release of magnetised plasma from the Sun that can drive a geomagnetic storm when it reaches the Earth.
Geomagnetic storm
A disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere, graded G1 to G5 on the NOAA scale.
Geomagnetically induced current
A quasi-direct current driven in long conductors such as power lines by a changing geomagnetic field.
Kp index
A planetary index from 0 to 9 of geomagnetic activity over three-hour intervals.
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
Around Space weather and extraterrestrial hazards
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Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.