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EM Globe

This dashboard visualises the complete Sun-Earth electromagnetic connection in real time. Every data point refreshes every 30 seconds from Prism, an intelligence synthesis platform that aggregates, correlates, and scores data from NOAA SWPC, USGS, BGS, INTERMAGNET, and other space weather sources.

The Sun

The sun is rendered with a procedural GLSL plasma shader that simulates photospheric granulation — the convection cells visible on the solar surface. The shader uses multi-octave 3D simplex noise and the surface brightness responds to the Solar Flux Index (SFI), a measure of solar radio emission at 10.7cm wavelength. Higher SFI = more active sun = brighter, more turbulent surface.

The multi-layered corona glow uses additive blending and scales with solar activity. Plasma prominence arcs loop above the surface. When Prism detects a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) arriving via the WSA-Enlil model, a particle burst fires toward Earth.

Solar Wind

The stream of particles flowing from the sun toward Earth represents the solar wind — a continuous flow of charged particles (mostly protons and electrons) at speeds of 300-800+ km/s. The particle speed in the visualisation scales with the actual measured solar wind speed from NOAA's DSCOVR satellite at the L1 Lagrange point, ~1.5 million km sunward of Earth.

Key parameters: Speed (km/s), Density (protons/cm³), Bt (total magnetic field strength), and critically Bz (the north-south component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field).

The Bz Arrow

The arrow on Earth's sunward flank shows the IMF Bz direction — the single most important parameter for geomagnetic storm coupling.

When Bz turns south, the IMF opposes Earth's northward-pointing field at the dayside magnetopause, allowing solar wind energy to enter via magnetic reconnection. This drives geomagnetic storms, auroral substorms, and GIC events.

Magnetosphere & Field Lines

The blue dipole field lines show Earth's magnetic field — a giant bar magnet with field lines emerging from the south magnetic pole and entering the north pole. Three tiers of field lines at different distances show the inner magnetosphere structure.

During storms, the field lines brighten and shift from blue toward purple/red, responding to the Kp index and storm score. The dashed polar axis marks the geomagnetic poles.

The magnetopause — the paraboloid mesh on the sunward side — is the boundary where solar wind pressure balances Earth's magnetic pressure. It typically sits at ~10 Earth radii but compresses during strong solar wind.

Aurora Oval

The green-purple bands at ~67° magnetic latitude mark the auroral oval — the ring where energetic particles from the magnetotail precipitate into the upper atmosphere, creating the aurora. The oval's brightness responds to the Kp index: at Kp 5+, auroras become visible from Scotland (55°N).

The Ayr viewing panel shows a composite score (0-100) combining geomagnetic activity, darkness, cloud cover, and moon illumination to predict local aurora visibility.

Ground Magnetometer Stations

The markers on the globe represent magnetometer observatories that measure Earth's magnetic field vector (X/Y/Z components in nanotesla). Hover over any station for live readings.

The vertical pillars above each station show dB/dt (rate of magnetic field change in nT/min). Taller pillars = faster field changes = higher GIC risk. During storms, pillars grow and change color from green (low risk) through amber/orange to red (high GIC risk).

The pulsing rings around each station beat faster when dB/dt is elevated — a visual heartbeat of geomagnetic disturbance.

NOAA Space Weather Scales

Scale	Measures	Driven by	Impacts
R (Radio)	Radio blackouts	X-ray flares	HF radio, aviation comms, GPS
S (Solar Radiation)	Solar particle storms	Proton events	Polar flights, satellites, astronauts
G (Geomagnetic)	Geomagnetic storms	CMEs, Bz south	Power grids (GIC), GPS, aurora

Each scale runs 1-5. R0/S0/G0 means no significant activity. The pills in the top bar light up when thresholds are exceeded.

EM Index

Prism's composite EM Index (0-10) combines all electromagnetic factors — geomagnetic (Kp, Dst), radio (X-ray flux, SFI), solar (flare forecast, CME threat), ground field anomalies, and ionospheric disturbance — into a single score. The ring gauge color shifts from green (quiet) through amber (unsettled) to red (storm).

Key Metrics Explained

Metric	What it is	Quiet	Storm
Kp	3-hour planetary geomagnetic index	0-2	5-9
Dst	Ring current strength (nT)	>-20	<-100
Bz	IMF north-south component (nT)	>0 (north)	<-10 (south)
SFI	Solar flux at 10.7cm (sfu)	~70	>200
dB/dt	Magnetic field rate of change	<5 nT/min	>100 nT/min
TEC	Total electron content (TECU)	5-15	>50

GIC — Geomagnetically Induced Currents

During geomagnetic storms, rapid changes in Earth's magnetic field (high dB/dt) induce electric currents in the ground. These GIC flow through long conductors — power lines, pipelines, undersea cables — and can damage transformers and disrupt power grids. The 1989 Quebec blackout was caused by GIC from a G5 storm.

The Scotland GIC risk indicator combines USGS ground data, IMAGE electrojet strength, and Eskdalemuir observatory readings to estimate local GIC risk for the Scottish power grid.

Data Sources

All data flows through Prism, which ingests from: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), USGS Geomagnetism Program, British Geological Survey (BGS), INTERMAGNET, IMAGE magnetometer network, AuroraWatch UK, WSA-Enlil solar wind model, and GOES satellite magnetometers. Data is refreshed every 30 seconds.