Dr. Tamitha Skov, an expert in space meteorology, tweeted: “The new region 3058 fires an M2.9 flare! It is now the fourth region of the Sun with the X factor.” The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) added, “set the risk of X flare at 10 percent, but that could increase soon.” Flares are grouped into five categories: A, B, C, M and then X, the strongest, and then given a number denoting the size of the phenomena. Dr Skov added: “More radio blackouts are likely to affect amateur radio operations on Earth Day. GPS users remain vigilant near dawn and dusk.”
According to a new study, however, space weather events could be more annoying than radio and GPS communications.
Physicist Cameron Patterson of the University of Lancaster explains, “Most of us have heard at one point given the dreaded words, ‘Your train has been delayed due to a signal failure.’
“While we normally connect these faults with rain, snow and line leaves, you may not have considered that the Sun can also cause rail signals to malfunction.”
Space-induced electric currents, he explained, can interfere with the normal operation of signaling systems, turning green signals to red when no train is nearby.
On rail networks, the location of trains is tracked by dividing the lines into small consecutive segments known as “blocks” that are usually between 0.6 and 1.2 miles long.
Each block is linked to a sign indicating whether or not there is a train in that block.
The same signals are controlled by relays that detect currents in the system, with the lights turning green if the block is empty and current is detected, or red if the block is occupied by a train and as a result no current is detected.
By inducing currents in the railway network, solar storms can cause sections of the track to be assigned a red light even if they are not occupied.
In addition, the stronger the solar storm, the more likely the signals are to malfunction, increasing the delays experienced by travelers on the rail network.
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In their study, Patterson and colleagues investigated the impacts of solar storms on two segments of the UK rail network: a north-south line between Lancaster and Preston and a route from east to west between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Previous studies, the researchers noted, have detected induced currents with field strengths greater than 7 V / km, while extreme solar storms are expected to produce fields as strong as 20 V / km.
However, solar storms should not be so intense as to cause signaling failures.
The team found that solar storms of a range of intensities can cause malfunction: from medium storms with electric field intensities of 2 V / km to strong storms at 4 V / km.
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With its initial study completed, the team is now considering more extreme results.
Patterson said: “We are now working to examine the case where there are trains on the line and the force that must be a storm to return a red to green signal.”
This, he added, is “a much more dangerous scenario that can lead to accidents!”
The full findings of the study were presented yesterday at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022), to be held July 11-15 at the University of Warwick.