☕️📶 F-Layer Café by Steve — October 01 2025
- Steven Brown
- Oct 1
- 3 min read
🌞 Good Day!
Good day friends, as solar activity ramped up in the past month, several notable solar flares and magnetic storms reminded us of the Sun's powerful influence on our geospace environment. These events are not just impressive displays in the sky, but they also have significant implications for our technology-dependent world.
📡 Major Space Weather Events
Notable events from the last two weeks
foF1 — Magnetic Storms Expected in October 2025: Magnetic storms, triggered by solar flares, are anticipated to affect Earth in early October following a powerful M6-class flare on September 28, marking a heightened phase of solar activity. Read more.
foF2 — New Insights into Martian Ionosphere: Recent data from Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter revealed intriguing changes in the Martian ionosphere, particularly in electron density and ionospheric temperatures. Read more.
foF3 — Progress in Ionospheric Sensing via Suborbital Launches: A groundbreaking study demonstrated the feasibility of using suborbital flights to sense the ionosphere, opening new avenues for atmospheric research. Read more.
☕️🛰️ Research & Defense Highlights
Latest science + DoD focus
Research Shot – The study titled "Ionosphere Model Development using Long Short Term Neural Networks" published in the Journal of Ionospheric Science and Engineering on September 1, 2025, showcases an advanced ionosphere model employing the LSTM method. This approach promises better predictive capabilities over traditional models, vital for navigating complex space weather challenges. Read more.
DoD Shot – The importance of space weather monitoring for defense applications was highlighted in a September 1, 2025, update from the US Space Force, emphasizing how solar flares and geomagnetic storms can disrupt communication and navigation systems. Ensuring continued functionality despite these challenges is crucial for operational readiness. Read more.
📡 What’s Coming Up?
Keep an eye on these upcoming events to foster collaboration and share the latest advances in space weather research.
2025 CEDAR Workshop, June 22, Location TBD, hosted by CEDAR –
GEM 2025 Summer Workshop, June 15, Location TBD, organized by GEM –
2025 SHINE Conference, July 14, Location TBD, organized by SHINE –
AGU Fall Meeting 2025, December 14, Location TBD, hosted by AGU –
✨ Stay Connected & Get Involved
We love hearing from our community! Share your thoughts, questions, or even your space weather photos with us by replying to this newsletter or visiting our community page. Your input helps drive our shared passion for space weather exploration.
📖 Quick Glossary
Ionosphere — A region of the Earth's atmosphere extending from about 50 to 600 kilometers altitude, where ions and free electrons exist due to solar radiation
Solar Flare — A sudden release of energy from the Sun, often accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, which can cause geomagnetic storms
Geomagnetic Storm — A disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field caused by solar activity, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections
GNSS — Global Navigation Satellite System, used for location and timing purposes and influenced by ionospheric conditions
Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) — A massive burst of plasma ejected from the Sun, which can impact Earth's magnetic field and cause geomagnetic storms
LSTM — Long Short-Term Memory, a type of recurrent neural network used for sequence prediction and temporal data analysis in ionospheric modeling
D/E Region — A part of the ionosphere at altitudes between 80 and 100 kilometers, challenging to measure due to its height
Total Electron Content (TEC) — A measure of the total number of electrons in a given volume of the ionosphere, affecting radio signals and navigation systems
By Steve Brown — Space Weather & SDA Technical Advisor
Comments