Can Mexico monitor space weather?

Space weather, also known as space climate, is monitored and analyzed through the assessment of the Sun’s physical properties, space environment, magnetosphere, atmosphere, and the Earth’s surface, which can be affected either directly or indirectly by the Sun’s activity. The study and monitoring of space weather is important since it allows authorities to warn populations of events that can affect the planet, which is why Mexico has its own National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE) .

The multidisciplinary group working at the lab is made up of researchers from the Geophysics Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) , campus Morelia , and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) , among other institutions.

Juan Américo González Esparza, head of LANCE

, stated that the Space Weather Service of Mexico (SCIESMEX) meets the need of the National Disaster Prevention Center (CENAPRED) and the Mexican Space Agency (AEM) of implementing public policy actions for the prevention of space climate events.

“Through SCIESMEX’s early warning system, we report events in real time whenever there are risks of irregular solar or magnetic activity that could affect critical technology systems in Mexico, in cooperation with international agencies such as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) , as well as other space weather services.”

According to the National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) it wasn’t until 2003 when space weather became extremely relevant in the world of physics. During said year, two of the most intense solar flares registered in the past few years occurred with alarming effects such as interruptions in telecommunications systems, blackouts in Sweden, and the sudden appearance of northern lights beyond the North and South poles.

The information for the monitoring of solar activity is obtained in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the NOAA .

LANCE receives real-time data on radiation levels coming from the sun, though the Mexican laboratory is also equipped with a radio telescope located in the Coeneo municipality of Michoacán , the radio spectrograph Callisto , and a series of ionospheric bubbles .

Mexican nanosatellite launched to International Space Station

dm