A new solar index number is being published - Thermosphere Climate Index

Hi Everybody;


As the sun plummets into the solar minimum a new index is derived to measure the total energy budget of the planet. The heating of our planet is caused by the sun and the atmosphere that traps this energy. It converts high energy photons such as X-rays and ultraviolet radiation into heat.

Space is cold even when solar radiation is present. Once the radiation hits a media such as our planet is converted into heat and trapped by the atmosphere. Planets or moons that do not have a thick layer of gas surrounding it will be extremely hot during day and very cold at night. We are lucky to have a thick layer of gas here on earth and it moderates the temperature so that life is possible.

The Thermosphere Climate Index (TCI) is similar to the Solar Flux (SF) but will provide a more meaningful indicator in how much energy our planet stores in the atmosphere.


Image credit NASA

For more info please go to: https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2018/09/27/the-chill-of-solar-minimum/


All the best and 73;


Alex – VE7DXW

 

very interesting and a very nice graphic to explain it, thank you

 

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

GA Alex,

Interesting information. There is one thing I don't understand about the graph. That is the temperatures on the left side. It shows the temperature in space to between 700 and 1200 degrees K. while the temperature near earth is about what I would expect. I understood space was cold not hot. ??
Dave K3GAU

 

Hi Dave;

Space is only cold and dark when it is devoid of molecules that can transform the radiation into a wave length that we can see or feel. The radiation intensity in the Van Allen belt is extremely strong and since there are still some molecules present it can be measured as heat. As the air thins out, to almost nothing, measuring temperature is not really possible. The thermometer's mass and type would affect the measurement severely.

All the best and 73;

Alex - 73

 

Dont let Al Gore know that it is the Sun that heats the planet! Hes still trying to convince the world its cow farts.

 

"Cow farts" are considered a green house gas and it traps heat by making the earth more opaque to infra red. So instead of the heat escaping into space it is trapped. The same thing happens on cloudy nights in the winter that are usually warmer than clear nights.
This new Thermosphere Climate Index (TCI) will definitely be able to show that this is actually happening!

All the best;

Alex - VE7DXW

 

Thanks for injecting your political views into an otherwise interesting topic.

 

The political view was "injected" by the original poster. The topic is about the "Thermosphere Climate Index", the amount of heat in the lower atmosphere, it has nothing to do with the ionosphere or radio wave propagation. Click on the link at the end of the original post, I can't find anything about propagation in that article. In post #8, VE7DXW confirms that the topic is about the temperature of the atmosphere, there is no mention of the ionosphere or HF propagation. 73

 

There is no discovered connection between the TCI and propagation yet, but that might change as data is collected and reverenced to propagation. As our planet heats up the turbulence of the ionosphere will increase and this will have an effect on propagation. So stand by and monitor.... maybe you will be the first that discovers the connection! If you do, make sure you let us know!

Alex

 

The ionosphere and the thermosphere do overlap, the thermosphere is heated to thousands of degrees by solar radiation, which causes ionization. The article states that the thermosphere is COOLING due to DECREASED solar radiation. Any changes in the temperature of the troposphere won't significantly affect the temperature of the thermosphere/ionosphere, and therefore won't have an effect on radio propagation.

 

But the cooling effect only happens during solar minimum... and weather phenomena like thunderstorms and hurricanes will be more severe with global warming and therefore create a stronger updraft which can effect the ionosphere.

Alex

 

These are all talking points that are propagated by the "global warming" agenda. It has NOTHING to do with ham radio and is completely off topic. It will not "effect" (sic) the ionosphere.