Space Weather Education: Learning to Forecast at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

Abstract:

Enhancing space weather education is important to space science endeavors. While participating in the Space Weather Research, Education and Development Initiative (SW REDI) Bootcamp and working as a Space Weather Analyst Intern, several innovative technologies and tools were integral to my learning and understanding of space weather analysis and forecasting. Two of the tools utilized in learning about space weather were the Integrated Space Weather Analysis System (iSWA) and the Space Weather Database Of Notifications, Knowledge, Information (DONKI). iSWA, a web-based dissemination system, hosts many state‐of‐the‐art space weather models as well as real time space weather data from spacecraft such as Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Advanced Composition Explorer. As a customizable tool that operates in real-time while providing access also to historical data, iSWA proved essential in my understanding the drivers and impacts of space weather. DONKI was instrumental in accessing historical space weather events to understand the connections between solar phenomena and their effects on Earth environments. DONKI operates as a database of space weather events including linkages between causes and effects of space weather events. iSWA and DONKI are tools available also to the public. They not only enrich the space weather learning process but also allow researchers and model developers access to essential heliophysics and magnetospheric data.