Waves of ionization rippling through the atmosphere high over Europe
A volley of C-class solar flares sent waves of ionization rippling through the atmosphere high over Europe. Dave Gradwell of Birr, Ireland, detected the disturbances using a VLF radio monitoring system:
Below is a video by STEREO Ahead COR2 and Lasco C3 showing multiple faint CME’s on Wednesday. One of these faint clouds may be Earth directed.
The source of the flares is a sunspot in the sun’s southern hemisphere (tentatively numbered AR1463) – one of several active regions popping up around the solar disk. With sunspot numbers on the rise, more flares and ion waves are likely in the days ahead. Sunspot 1460 is growing rapidly and could soon pose a threat for M-class solar flares. (SpaceWeather)
A sudden ionospheric disturbance (SID) is an abnormally high ionization/plasma density in the D region of the ionosphere caused by a solar flare. The SID results in a sudden increase in radio-wave absorption that is most severe in the upper medium frequency (MF) and lower high frequency (HF) ranges, and as a result often interrupts or interferes with telecommunications systems.
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