Severe Space Weather Events

The adverse effects of extreme space weather on modern technology—power grid outages, high-frequency communication blackouts, spacecraft anomalies—are well known and well documented, and the physical processes underlying space weather are also generally well understood. Less well documented and understood, however, are the potential economic and societal impacts of the disruption of critical technological systems by severe space weather. As a first step toward determining the socioeconomic impacts of extreme space weather events and addressing the questions of space weather risk assessment and management, a public workshop was held in May 2008. The workshop brought together representatives of industry, the government, and academia to consider both direct and collateral effects of severe space weather events, the current state of the space weather services infrastructure in the United States, the needs of users of space weather data and services, and the ramifications of future technological developments for contemporary society's vulnerability to space weather. The workshop concluded with a discussion of un- or underexplored topics that would yield the greatest benefits in space weather risk management. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction2 Space Weather Impacts in Retrospect3 Space Weather and Society4 Current Space Weather Services Infrastructure5 User Perspectives on Space Weather Products6 Satisfying Space Weather User Needs7 Future Solutions, Vulnerabilities, and Risks8 Facilitated Open Audience Discussion: The Way ForwardAppendix A: Statement of TaskAppendix B: Workshop Agenda and ParticipantsAppendix C: Abstracts Prepared by Workshop PanelistsAppendix D: Biographies of Committee Members and StaffAppendix E: Select Acronyms and Terms