The Sun is more than 92 million miles away, but its impacts are felt close to home.

Our technologically dependent society is increasingly vulnerable to powerful solar storms that fling millions of tons of charged matter toward Earth. These space weather events can imperil the health of astronauts and passengers on high-altitude flights, distort GPS signals, scramble satellite operations, and disrupt communications and electric utility systems on Earth.

At NSF NCAR, solar researchers collaborate with Earth system scientists, computer programers, data and AI experts, engineers, and more to better understand the Sun's complex and chaotic magnetic fields,  how they initiate disruptive solar storms, and the resulting impacts on Earth. As a more detailed understanding of the Sun's basic physics emerges, researchers are getting better at forecasting these storms farther in advance – giving grid operators, satellite providers and others more time to prepare.