The 06-09 September 2017

Abstract:

Over the period 06-09 September 2017 occurred one of the most significant space weather events of Solar Cycle 24. The source of the event was an active region (NOAA Region 12673) located in the Sun's south-west quadrant that, on 06 September, produced an X9.3 magnitude solar flare. It was the strongest solar flare in more than a decade, despite the Solar Cycle 24 nearing solar minimum when the sun tends to have fewer sunspots. X-ray and UV radiation from the blast ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a strong shortwave radio blackout over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. At 06/1202 UT the SOHO/LASCO coronagraph recorded a full halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which was associated with Type II/IV radio sweeps. In this paper we discuss the whole chain of events extending from the Sun to the Earth’s surface including detailed observations and prediction tools introduced and developed at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Space Weather Services.