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Space Weather Effects on Critical Infrastructure

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Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Light of the Armed Conflicts (HCC 2022)

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Abstract

Gas pipelines, transmission lines, overhead wires, transformers, GNSS navigation, and telecommunication systems are part of critical infrastructure. Industry, transportation, service operations, farming, and everyday life highly depend on this infrastructure. However, these systems are very sensitive to solar activity. Therefore, all activities above are vulnerable and defenseless against the catastrophic changes in Earth’s cosmic environment. The Solar System is dominated by the influence of our star. In the Solar System, all objects are gravitationally bound and the radiation of the Sun provides the energy for example for the terrestrial biosphere. A small fraction of the energy produced in the core of our star turns into a magnetic field and emits the constant high-velocity flow, the solar wind. Solar magnetic activity produces radiation and ejects matter from the upper atmosphere of our star. The magnetic field of the solar wind interacts with the planetary magnetic fields and atmospheres. These phenomena, called Space Weather have a serious influence on the radiation environment of Earth where telecommunication, Global Navigation Satellite System, meteorological, and other purpose satellites are located. The conductivity and transparency of the higher partly ionized atmospheric layer, the ionosphere also depend on solar radiation and activity. This fact makes the navigation and communication systems dependent on solar activity. Finally, the solar magnetic activity creates magnetic variations in the terrestrial magnetic field and induces currents in gas pipelines, transmission lines, overhead wires, and transformers. In this short briefing, we introduce the solar activity phenomena, and their influence on our planet’s cosmic neighborhood and pro- vide a detailed description of the Space Weather effects on critical infrastructure. We describe the Hungarian national and global space weather forecast centres and capabilities. Finally, we share some guidelines on how to prepare for extreme space weather events.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially financed by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office (NKFIH) FK128548 grant. ML was supported by the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Milton Friedman University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Facskó

  2. Department of Space Physics and Space Technology, Wigner RCP, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Facskó, Gergely Koban, Nikolett Biró & Munkhjargal Lkhagvadorj

  3. Doctoral School of Physics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gergely Koban & Nikolett Biró

  4. Faculty of Science, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    Munkhjargal Lkhagvadorj

Authors
  1. Gábor Facskó
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  2. Gergely Koban
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  3. Nikolett Biró
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  4. Munkhjargal Lkhagvadorj
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gábor Facskó .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Banki Donat Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Obuda University, Budapest, Hungary

    Tünde Anna Kovács

  2. Department of Informatics, Milton Friedman University, Budapest, Hungary

    Zoltán Nyikes

  3. Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training, National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary

    Tamás Berek

  4. Banki Donat Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Obuda University, Budapest, Hungary

    Norbert Daruka

  5. Banki Donat Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Obuda University, Budapest, Hungary

    László Tóth

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Facskó, G., Koban, G., Biró, N., Lkhagvadorj, M. (2024). Space Weather Effects on Critical Infrastructure. In: Kovács, T.A., Nyikes, Z., Berek, T., Daruka, N., Tóth, L. (eds) Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Light of the Armed Conflicts. HCC 2022. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47990-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47990-8_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-47990-8

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