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 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.
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 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.
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.
The aurora layer is driven by NOAA's OVATION Prime 2020 model — a real-time 1° global grid of aurora intensity (0-13 scale) derived from solar wind measurements at L1. The point cloud shows actual predicted aurora brightness: dark green for faint activity, through bright green and cyan, to white for intense aurora. The oval's shape, width, and equatorward boundary respond to real geomagnetic conditions rather than using a static ring.
The Ayr viewing panel shows a composite score (0-100) combining geomagnetic activity, darkness, cloud cover, and moon illumination to predict local aurora visibility.
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.
| 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.
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).
| 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 |
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.
The moon is positioned based on its current phase (from Prism's moon_phase source). New Moon = same direction as the sun, Full Moon = opposite. The orbital inclination is modelled at 5.14°.
The Tidal toggle shows gravitational tidal forces: a coloured bulge overlay stretched toward/away from the moon (the tidal quadrupole), a purple gravity vector arrow, and force field lines. The bulge stretches more during spring tides. The HUD shows current tidal height, phase (flooding/ebbing), range, and spring/neap type from the Firth of Clyde.
Based on Neal et al. 2013 (AGU Space Weather), the Protons toggle shows where solar energetic protons penetrate the atmosphere during Solar Proton Events. The red polar caps expand equatorward as Kp rises: at Kp 0 the boundary is at 65°N, at Kp 5 it reaches 57.5°N, at Kp 9 it's 51.5°N. The nightside extends ~4° further due to day-night asymmetry in the geomagnetic cutoff.
When the boundary drops below 55.5°N, Scotland is exposed to proton precipitation, causing polar cap absorption (PCA) and HF radio blackouts on polar flight routes.
The DSN toggle shows NASA's three deep space communication stations: Goldstone (California), Madrid (Spain), and Canberra (Australia). Beams show the direction each dish is pointing based on real-time azimuth/elevation data from eyes.nasa.gov/dsn, with beam length scaled by target distance. Spacecraft like JWST, Voyager 1, and KPLO are tracked live.
The NEO toggle shows recent fireball/bolide impacts (orange markers at impact coordinates) and close-approaching asteroids (orbiting dots, red if potentially hazardous). Data from NASA CNEOS Sentry impact risk table, close approach database, and fireball reports.
The HF button opens a floating panel showing per-band day/night propagation conditions for the amateur/marine HF spectrum (80m through 10m). Data from N0NBH/HamQSL solar indices feed (via siphon hamqsl_propagation source). Colours: green = Good, amber = Fair, red = Poor. SFI, A-index and K-index are shown at the top.
The TEC toggle renders a synthetic Total Electron Content heatmap on the globe surface. The model combines three physically-motivated components: (1) a diurnal pattern peaking at the sub-solar point, (2) the equatorial anomaly with twin TEC peaks at ±15° magnetic latitude (Appleton anomaly), and (3) auroral enhancement in the 55–75° bands during geomagnetic storms (scaled by Kp). The overall intensity is normalised to the real-time global mean and max TECU values from NOAA GloTEC (via the ionospheric_state prism lens). Colour scale: blue (low) → green (mid) → red (high TEC).
The Lightning toggle renders up to 500 real-time lightning strike positions as bright yellow dots on the globe surface. Data is fetched every 30 seconds from an independent lightning detection network (via siphon lightning source). Each batch replaces the previous one, giving a rolling snapshot of global thunderstorm activity. Strikes cluster along the ITCZ, tropical land masses and mid-latitude frontal zones.
The Cables toggle renders the global submarine fibre-optic cable network as dim cyan lines on the globe surface. Data is lazy-loaded on first activation from the submarine-cables siphon source. During geomagnetic storms (Kp ≥ 5), cables between ±60° latitude shift to orange-red and pulse, indicating elevated GIC (geomagnetically induced current) risk that can damage repeater power feed equipment.
The Conj toggle opens a floating panel listing the top 5 closest predicted orbital close approaches from CelesTrak SOCRATES (Satellite Orbital Conjunction Reports Assessing Threatening Encounters in Space). Each entry shows the two objects, time of closest approach (TCA) and minimum range in kilometres. Range is colour-coded: red (<1 km), amber (1-5 km), green (>5 km).
The Radiation toggle renders a heatmap overlay showing cosmic radiation dose rates at aviation altitude. Data from the radiation-altitude siphon source provides a latitude/longitude grid of dose values in μSv/h. Colour scale: green (<2 μSv/h) → amber (2-10) → red (>10). Higher doses occur at high latitudes and during solar proton events, relevant for aircrew radiation exposure monitoring.
The solar wind particle stream now responds to real-time ACE/DSCOVR measurements. Particle speed scales with measured solar wind velocity (400 km/s baseline). Colour shifts from warm yellow-orange (Bz northward, shielded) to cool blue-green (Bz southward, geo-coupling active). Stream width expands with proton density. Opacity increases with denser plasma. All parameters transition smoothly as new data arrives every 30 seconds.
The bow shock wireframe now dynamically compresses and expands using the Shue et al. 1998 empirical model: Rmp = 10.22 × Pdyn-1/6 × (1 + 0.033 × Bz,north). During a CME impact or fast solar wind stream, increased dynamic pressure pushes the magnetopause Earthward — from its default ~10 RE standoff to as close as ~6 RE in a severe storm. The wireframe also brightens as it compresses, visually indicating increased pressure.
The 🔊 button activates a real-time audio drone driven by space weather parameters via the Web Audio API:
The All toggle renders the entire active NORAD catalogue (~11,000 satellites) as a second InstancedMesh. Instances are colored per orbit class using an InstancedBufferAttribute:
Starlink satellites are filtered out of this layer to avoid double-rendering — leave both All and Starlink enabled to see the full picture with Starlink picked out in bright blue-white. Data path: CelesTrak → siphon tle-active → Prism /api/tle/active.
The Starlink toggle renders the full active Starlink fleet (~10,000 satellites) as a single Three.js InstancedMesh — one draw call for the whole constellation, per-instance orbital state advanced in a flat loop each frame. Each instance's inclination, RAAN, mean anomaly and altitude are parsed once at load time from the body's latest TLE.
Data flows the right way: CelesTrak → siphon celestrak_tle source (tle-starlink, refreshed every 6 h) → Prism /api/tle/starlink → this dashboard. No direct external fetch from the browser.
The QMoon toggle tracks 2025 PN7, an 18–36 m Apollo-class asteroid confirmed in 2025 as Earth's eighth known quasi-moon. It is not gravitationally bound — it orbits the Sun on a path nearly synchronised with Earth, swinging between ~4 million km and ~17 million km from us. The co-orbital relationship is expected to persist until around 2083, after which it will drift back into open space.
Position is propagated from NASA/JPL Small-Body Database osculating orbital elements (a = 1.0010 AU, e = 0.1079, i = 1.98°, epoch JD 2461000.5) via a client-side Keplerian solver. Direction is physically accurate at epoch; the Earth-relative distance is log-compressed into a visible band between the globe and the Moon so the body stays on screen. Note that osculating two-body propagation diverges from the true N-body path for co-orbital bodies over timescales of months — the real horseshoe libration that keeps 2025 PN7 nearby requires JPL Horizons-grade ephemerides for long-term accuracy.
The sun surface shows real NASA SDO 193 Å imagery (updated every 5 minutes), revealing actual active regions, coronal holes, and sunspot groups. The procedural plasma shader provides a fallback when the image isn't available.
| Toggle | Layer |
|---|---|
| Earth | Blue Marble texture (hide for transparent wireframe globe) |
| Aurora | OVATION Prime aurora intensity heatmap (data-driven oval) |
| B-field | Magnetic dipole field lines + Bz arrow |
| Stations | Ground magnetometer markers + dB/dt pillars |
| Wind | Solar wind particle stream from sun to Earth |
| DSN | Deep Space Network dishes + communication beams |
| NEO | Near-Earth objects + fireball impacts |
| QMoon | 2025 PN7 — Earth's quasi-moon (Keplerian propagation) |
| Starlink | Full Starlink constellation (~10k sats, InstancedMesh) |
| All | Full active NORAD catalogue (~11k, color-coded by orbit class, Starlink excluded) |
| TEC | Ionospheric Total Electron Content heatmap (synthetic model, TECU-scaled) |
| HF | HF radio band propagation conditions panel (day/night per band) |
| Protons | Solar proton cutoff polar caps |
| Tidal | Gravitational tidal force overlay + Moon vector |
| Reentry | Decaying satellites — orbital rings coloured by urgency |
| Lightning | Global lightning strikes (30s refresh, up to 500 points) |
| Cables | Submarine fibre-optic cable network (storm-highlighted at Kp≥5) |
| Conj | SOCRATES orbital conjunction close approaches (info panel) |
| Radiation | Cosmic radiation dose at altitude heatmap (μSv/h) |
System shows the full Sun-Earth system. Earth zooms to a close-up. Sun shows the solar disk with SDO imagery. Moon focuses on the lunar position. QMoon frames 2025 PN7 together with Earth (forcing the QMoon layer on). All transitions are smoothly animated.
All data flows through Prism, which ingests from: NOAA SWPC (including OVATION Prime aurora model), USGS Geomagnetism, BGS, INTERMAGNET, IMAGE network, AuroraWatch UK, WSA-Enlil, GOES satellites, NASA SDO, NASA DSN, NASA CNEOS (Sentry/NEO/Fireballs), NASA NeoWs, CelesTrak (TLE + decaying objects), Open-Meteo marine, and Tomsk/ETNA Schumann resonance stations. Data refreshes every 30 seconds.