Mar 08 EXTENDED WARNING: Proton 100MeV Integral Flux above 1pfu expected
Has your Global Positioning System been acting up? Your cell phone or other Personal Radio Broadcasting Station been unable to communicate?
I understand that a space storm is overtaking us even as I write. The page for space weather watches and warnings has prettily colored graphics but I don't understand them any better than the graphics produced for earth weather. That is, I think I understand what the earth weather graphics tell me, but what I think they say does not correlate well with the actual weather.
The magnetic component of the current storm is only rated G1; it could go as high as G5 which, confusingly enough, equates to K9. How can it be that K9 refers not to the D component (as in "dog") but rather to the H component (as in "how")? [Yes, yes, I know I'm using the spelling alphabet from the 1950s.] Whoever came up with this nomenclature was insuffiently mnemonic, although I will give undue credit for using 'H' mnemonically to represent a modified 'N' (as in "north", here modified to mean "magnetic, not true, north").
Do I really need to understand space weather reports and predictions? My GPS, after all, is much simpler than the type supposedly at risk. I use no satellite signals, no trilateration, and no particular accuracy. I merely track how far away I am from the Center of Personal Consciousness -- usually approximately zero meters, though sometimes my mind wanders.