Space climate is the long-term variation in

solar activity Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the Stellar atmosphere, atmosphere of the Sun. They take many forms, including solar wind, Solar radio emission, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, Stellar corona#Coron ...

within the

heliosphere The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding ...

, including the

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer, the Stellar corona, corona. This Plasma (physics), plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy betwee ...

, the

Interplanetary magnetic field The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), also commonly referred to as the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF), is the component of the solar magnetic field that is dragged out from the solar corona by the solar wind flow to fill the Solar System ...

(IMF), and their effects in the near-Earth environment, including the magnetosphere of Earth and the

ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

, the upper and lower atmosphere,

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

, and other related systems. The scientific study of space climate is an interdisciplinary field of

space physics Space physics, also known as space plasma physics, is the study of naturally occurring plasmas within Earth's upper atmosphere and the rest of the Solar System. It includes the topics of aeronomy, aurorae, planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, ...

solar physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics and astrophysics. Because the Sun is uniquely situated for close-range observing (other stars cannot be re ...

heliophysics Heliophysics (from the prefix "wikt:helio-, helio", from Attic Greek ''hḗlios'', meaning Sun, and the noun "physics": the science of matter and energy and their interactions) is the physics of the Sun and its connection with the Solar System. ...

, and

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...

. It is thus conceptually related to terrestrial

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

, and its effects on the

atmosphere of Earth The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weather ...

are considered in climate science.

Background

Space climatology considers long-term (longer than the latitudinally variable 27-day

solar rotation Solar rotation varies with latitude. The Sun is not a solid body, but is composed of a gaseous plasma. Different latitudes rotate at different periods. The source of this differential rotation is an area of current research in solar astronomy ...

period, through the 11-year

solar cycle The Solar cycle, also known as the solar magnetic activity cycle, sunspot cycle, or Schwabe cycle, is a periodic 11-year change in the Sun's activity measured in terms of Modern Maximum, variations in the number of observed sunspots on the Sun ...

and beyond, up to and exceeding millennia) variability of solar indices,

cosmic ray Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the ...

, heliospheric parameters, and the induced geomagnetic, ionospheric, atmospheric, and climate effects. It studies mechanisms and physical processes responsible for their variability in the past with projections onto future. It is a broader and more general concept than

space weather Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the varying conditions within the Solar System and its heliosphere. This includes the effects of the solar wind, especially on the Earth's magnetosphere, ion ...

, to which it is related like the conventional climate and

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

. In addition to real-time

solar observation Solar observation is the scientific endeavor of studying the Sun and its behavior and relation to the Earth and the remainder of the Solar System. Deliberate solar observation began thousands of years ago. That initial era of direct observation g ...

s, the field of research also covers analysis of historical space climate data. This has included analysis and reconstruction that has allowed solar wind and heliospheric

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

strengths to be determined from back to 1611. The importance of space climate research has been recognized, in particular, by NASA which launched a special space mission

Deep Space Climate Observatory Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR; formerly known as Triana, unofficially known as GoreSat) is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space weather, space climate, and Earth observation satellite. It was launched by Spac ...

(DSCOVR) dedicated to monitoring of space climate. New results, ideas and discoveries in the field of Space Climate are published in a focused peer-review research ''Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate'' (JSWSC). Since 2013, research awards and medals in space weather and space climate are annually awarded by the European Space Weather Week. Another recent space observatory platform is the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE). Space climate research has three main aims: # to better understand the long-term solar variability, including also the observed extremes and features of this variability in the

and in the heliospheric magnetic field # to better understand the physical relationships between the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, the heliosphere, and various related proxies (geomagnetic fields, cosmic rays, etc.) # to better understand the long-term effect of solar variability on the near-

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

environment, including the different atmospheric layers, and ultimately on Earth's global climate

History

In the early 2000s, when the concept of space weather became common, a small initiative group, led by Kalevi Mursula and Ilya G. Usoskin the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

in Finland had realized that physical drivers of solar variability and its terrestrial effects can be better understood with a more general and broader view. The concept of ''Space Climate'' had been developed, and the corresponding research community formed, which presently includes a few hundred active members around the world. In particular, a series of International Space Climate Symposia (biennial since 2004) was organized, with the first inaugural symposium being held in Oulu (Finland) in 2004, followed by those in Romania (2006), Finland (2009), India (2011), Finland (2013), Finland (2016), Canada (2019), Poland (2022) and Japan (2024) as well as topical space climate sessions are regularly held at the General Assemblies of the

Committee on Space Research The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) was established on October 3, 1958 by the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU) and its first chair was Hildegard Korf Kallmann-Bijl. Among COSPAR's objectives are the promotion of scienti ...

and Earth Science.

Dissemination

Research results related to Space Climate are published in a bunch of peer-reviewed journals, such as

Astronomy & Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors re ...

Journal of Geophysical Research The ''Journal of Geophysical Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It is the flagship journal of the American Geophysical Union. It contains original research on the physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to the u ...

Geophysical Research Letters ''Geophysical Research Letters'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal of geoscience published by the American Geophysical Union that was established in 1974. The editor-in-chief iKristopher Karnauskas Aims and scope The journal aims for ...

Solar Physics (journal) ''Solar Physics'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal published monthly by Springer Science+Business Media. The editors-in-chief are Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi (various affiliations), Cristina Mandrini (Universidad de Buenos Aires), ...

, Advances in Space Research.

References

External links

*
Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
' (JSWSC) *

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is an office of the U.N. Secretariat that promotes and facilitates peaceful international cooperation in outer space. It works to establish or strengthen the legal and regulatory fram ...

Space and Climate Change
program {{Magnetospherics Space weather Space physics Space science Geophysics Climate Solar System Sun Climatology

Background

History

Dissemination

See also

References

External links