Space Weather Prediction Center
- Space Weather Prediction Center
The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), formerly the Space Environment Center (SEC), is a laboratory and service center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) located in Boulder, Colorado. SWPC continually monitors and forecasts Earth's space environment, providing solar-terrestrial information. SWPC is the official source of space weather alerts and warnings for the United States.
The Space Weather Prediction Center is one of the nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and provides real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical events, conducts research in solar-terrestrial physics, and develops techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances. The SWPC Forecast Center is jointly operated by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force and is the national and world warning center for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in the space environment. SWPC works with many national and international partners who contribute data and observations.
A few of the agencies and industry that rely on SWPC services:
* U.S. power grid infrastructure
* Commercial airline industry
* Department of Transportation (use of GPS)
* NASA human space flight activities (NASA relies on SWPC data to protect the $1 billion arm on the International Space Station)
* Satellite launch and operations
* U.S. Air Force operational support
* Commercial and public users (more than half a million hits per day on SWPC web sites)
* Some Economic Impacts of Space Weather:
The Federal Aviation Administration requires dispatchers to take into consideration HF communication degradation for each dispatched polar flight. Flights can be diverted based on SWPC solar radiation alerts if air traffic control communication is compromised, with estimated costs as high as $100K per flight. A 23-day period in 2001 saw 25 flights diverted
See also
* Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG)
External links
* [http://www.swpc.noaa.gov Space Weather Prediction Center]
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Space weather — is the concept of changing environmental conditions in outer space. It is distinct from the concept of weather within a planetary atmosphere, and deals with phenomena involving ambient plasma, magnetic fields, radiation and other matter in space… … Wikipedia
space weather — (SPAYS weth.ur; th as in the) n. Electrical storms generated when the solar wind emitted by the sun interacts with the Earth s magnetic field. Also: space weather. adj. Example Citation: Space weather involves the sun, the solar wind and the… … New words
Storm Prediction Center — The Storm Prediction Center logo. Agency overview Formed October 1995 Preceding agencies … Wikipedia
Climate Prediction Center — The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) is one of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, which are a part of NOAA s National Weather Service. It is located in Camp Springs, Maryland. Contents 1 Products 2 History 3 See also … Wikipedia
Weather forecasting — weather forecaster redirects here. For other uses, see Weatherman (disambiguation). Forecast of surface pressures five days into the future for the north Pacific, North America, and north Atlantic ocean. Weather forecasting is the application of… … Wikipedia
Space environment — is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and astronomy that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that would impact both the operation of spacecraft and also affect our planet s atmosphere and geomagnetic… … Wikipedia
Hydrometeorological Prediction Center — The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) is one of nine Service Centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the aegis of the National Weather Service, which in turn is part of the … Wikipedia
Ocean Prediction Center — OPC pressure forecast valid at 48 hours The Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), established in 1995, is one of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP’s) original six service centers.[1] Until January 12, 2003, the name of the… … Wikipedia
National Centers for Environmental Prediction — The United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) delivers national and global weather, water, climate and space weather guidance, forecasts, warnings and analyses to its Partners and External User Communities. These products … Wikipedia
National Weather Service — NWS Agency overview Formed February 9, 1870 Jurisdiction … Wikipedia
