Solar Influences on Global Change (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 SOLAR VARIATIONS AND THE EARTH'S NEAR-SPACE ENVIRONMENT
5 SOLAR VARIATIONS AND THE EARTH'S NEAR-SPACE ENVIRONMENT
Pages 89-94
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 89... ...
As discussed in Chapter 3, both energetic solar protons and relativistic electrons can destroy ozone and affect the middle atmosphere. Also, large ejections of mass and magnetic fields from the Sun, whose influence is transmitted to the Earth through the near-space environment, can significantly affect certain complex technological systems, including electrical power grids, Earth-orbiting spacecraft, and communication links (Ioseiyn, 1990~.
|
From page 90... ...
The major processes that extract, store, and dissipate energy from the solar wind flowing past the Earth, subsequently disturbing the geospace environment, involve the generation of plasma and energetic particles from stored magnetic fields. Three primary forms of energy dissipation detectable in the Earth's atmosphere are auroral particle precipitation,
|
From page 91... ...
Eventually, plasma particles convert part of their energy to radiation modes such as auroral displays and kilometric radiation. SOLAR ERUPTIVE EVENTS AND GEOMAGNETIC STORMS Explosive outbursts from the Sun release energy primarily in the form of X-rays, UV radiation, energetic particles, magnetized plasma, and shock waves.
|
From page 92... ...
are excluded from low magnetic latitudes by the geomagnetic field but, as discussed in Chapter 3, the polar regions of the Earth are exposed to the full interplanetary flux (Figure 3.3~. During geomagnetic substorms and storms, energized particles bombard the Earth's upper atmosphere, colliding with atmospheric constituents, transferring their energy (Table I.~)
|
From page 93... ...
Clearly, the highly sporadic and unpredictable nature of geomagnetic activity makes it very difficult to estimate the importance of its ejects on the terrestrial environment on the time scale of decades to centuries. In an historical context, knowledge of the role of the geomagnetic field itself is important because variations in its strength modulate the exposure of the Earth's atmosphere to bombardment by galactic cosmic rays, allowing variations in production of ~4C and other cosmogonic nuclides that could mimic variations in solar activity.
|
From page 94... ...
The extent to which precipitating relativistic electrons actually enter the atmosphere is currently uncertain. As noted in Chapter 3, if a significant amount of these ionizing particles reaches the middle atmosphere, the long term effects on ozone concentrations in the stratosphere could be significant (Callis et al., 1991~.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.