The Cape-based Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), managed by the CSIR's Meraka Institute, is studying the impact of solar storms on earthbound ICT, satellites and high-flying aircraft.
CHPC researcher Dr Daniel Moeketsi says the sun has an 11-year cycle. Approximately every 11 years the sun moves through a period of fewer and smaller sunspots, termed solar minimum, followed by a period of larger and more sunspots, termed solar maximum.
Moeketsi, who completed his PhD in physics on the topic of solar cycle effects on ionospheric total electron content observed over southern Africa, says the sun is approaching a solar maximum, which will affect satellite orbits, signals and safety aboard spacecraft and airliners.
"Space weather describes the conditions in space that affect earth and its technological systems. Our space weather is a consequence of the behaviour of the sun, the nature of the earth's magnetic field, and our location in the solar system," he writes in a recent CSIR newsletter.
He explains that space weather exerts a profound influence in several areas relating to space exploration and development. Changing geomagnetic conditions can induce changes in atmospheric density, affecting the trajectory of spacecraft and satellites in low earth orbit.
Solar storms also excite earth's magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms that can potentially blind sensors aboard spacecraft, interfere with on-board electronics and high-frequency radio transmissions.
An understanding of space environmental conditions is also important in designing shielding and life support systems for manned spacecraft, Moeketsi says. Geomagnetic storms may also expose conventional aircraft flying at high latitudes to increased amounts of radiation, potentially endangering frequent flyers.
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