Propagation Forecast
The Solar flux has remained at a steady 70 throughout March and this should continue until at least mid-April. However, the A and K Index are a different story. Over the Easter weekend, the A Index has remained at 5 and the K Index at 2. There will have been a serious disturbance of HF reception from 25th to the 29th March with the K Index rising to 5. The worst day of March being the 27th, with the A Index also peaking at 25. This is due to a coronal hole rotating into an earth-facing position, and pointing towards the Council Estate on March 23rd. The next disturbance will be from 4th to 11th April peaking on the 7th, with the A Index at 25, and the K Index at 5. Regularly updated Solar Terrestrial Activity Reports and forecasts, plus regional and frequency specific information can be found at: http://www.dxlc.com/solar/
Coronal Stream Activity
Coronal Streams are responsible for the recent disturbances. They are streams of charged particles originating from the sun's corona. Coronal streams have similar effects as CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections) by increasing the A- and K-indices but usually to a lesser extent. However, a few coronal holes may cause major storm levels at the higher latitudes on earth resulting in total propagation fade-out at these latitudes.
IMO Meteor Shower Calendar 2008.
The International Meteor Organisation has an online Meteor Shower Calendar for 2008, which includes a detailed summary for the year. The web address is:
http:// www.imo.net/calendar/2008
Solar Cycle 24
The Solar flux readings indicate that we are still awaiting some activity for Solar Cycle 24. Daily reports and the latest SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) images can be found at: http://www.solarcycle24.com or you can find out more about SOHO at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ Space weather alerts can also be found at: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts
This month’s links and more can be found at: http://www.jameswelsh.co.nr
