Severe Space Weather events and their impact on Navigation and Communication

Abstract

Severe Space weather can influence or even damage important systems and services such as GNSS or HF communication as well as ground and space-based infrastructures such as power grids or satellites. The highly interdisciplinary topic of space weather is therefore not only scientifically challenging, but is also becoming increasingly important for industry and service providers. Since we are reaching the peak of activity within the 25th solar cycle, Space Weather events occur more frequent and with increased intensity. In our presentation we discuss Space Weather effects on satellite navigation and communication services based on moderate and severe events of the recent solar cycle. We present real time and post-processed observations from the Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center (IMPC) of DLR and related scientific analyses. We further focus on the “Motherday” event of 10-14 May 2024 and provide insight into its impact on operational services. Finally, we provide an outlook on interactive web-applications and performance indicators, that could help users assess the impact of severe space events on their operational system.