The University of Surrey's Space Center has teamed up with Britain's Met Office to launch new space weather monitors aimed at sharpening forecasts of solar storms that can threaten aircraft, power grids and satellites.

Surrey

Researchers at the University of Surrey, in partnership with Britain's Met Office, have developed the SARA radiation monitor to enhance space weather forecasting. The sensor, attached to meteorological balloons, collects data on atmospheric radiation caused by solar storms, which can disrupt aviation, power grids, and satellite operations.

A recent deployment of these sensors during a powerful solar flare provided the first-of-its-kind data, which scientists are now analyzing. Early indications suggest the data will help verify and improve existing space weather models, aiding efforts to protect modern infrastructure from future solar events.

How balloon-borne sensors are giving new insights into space weather

In our world of planes, internet domains and driverless automobiles, space weather has the potential to wreak havoc. And that's why scientists at the University of Surrey's Space Centre have teamed up with Britain's Met Office to work on this. SARA is a radiation monitor. It can be attached to meteorological balloons with the aim of sharpening forecasts of solar storms that can threaten aircraft, power grids and satellites. Dr Ben Kluwer is a space weather model and system developer at the University of Surrey. The Met Office will fit it to their standard meteorological balloons, the same ones that go up and measure the pressure and the wind speed and things like that. And then it monitors the radiation environment up there by monitoring the particles that pass through it and then it turns the different particles that have been counted, it then turns that into a dose rate that we can use for radiation protection purposes, much like you would in a hospital when you're going to have an x-ray for example. So what is space weather? Eruptions on the sun send bursts of high-energy particles and magnetic fields towards Earth that can disrupt radio links, satellite operations and high-altitude flights. Kluwer said such events are expected to become more common around the current peak of the sun's 11-year activity cycle. Much larger storms, he warned, could cause serious disruption to modern infrastructure. We haven't had a big event for 20 years. The last big ones were sort of pre-modern technology in terms of the really small microelectronics. So we're trying to get the world ready for one of these events so it doesn't take all of our critical infrastructure offline. The SARA radiation sensors were initially launched to a height of nearly 20 miles on October 17th. Those launches were a proof of concept. But on November 11th, a powerful flare triggered what UK scientists said was one of the strongest ground-level enhancements of atmospheric radiation in about 20 years. Met Office teams were able to quickly deploy some of the sensors and gather first-of-its-kind data. Here's Met Office Senior Space Weather Manager Krista Hammond. We're still analysing the collated data but we do have it and it's looking, it's early indications though that it's promising and no one's ever done something like this before so it's going to be really valuable for verifying our models so that we know that we're understanding the radiation environment as best we can.

President Trump announced Thursday that he would "permanently pause" immigration from "Third-World Countries." The declaration comes as the Trump administration takes aim at U.S. immigration policies in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

Washington

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Europe's Airbus says it is ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely-used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States.

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Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies in an intensive search of a high-rise complex where a massive fire engulfed seven buildings, bringing the death toll to 128 with many more unaccounted for. Authorities arrested another eight people involved in the towers' renovation.

Hong Kong Island

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's powerful chief of staff, a close ally of the president who has headed Ukraine's negotiation team at fraught U.S.-backed peace talks, quit on Friday (November 28), after anti-corruption agents searched his home.

Kyiv

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At least thirteen people were killed in an Israeli raid in southern Syria, Syrian state media reported, with Damascus accusing Israel of a "criminal attack" in a village where Israel said its troops came under fire during an operation to arrest militants.

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The Department of Homeland Security says the agency is reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration in wake of Wednesday's attack on National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

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Two Palestinian men were shot dead during an Israeli raid in Jenin on Thursday moments after appearing to surrender, prompting condemnations as footage of the incident sparked widespread outrage.

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One of the U.S. National Guard members ambushed in Washington, D.C., has died, President Trump announced Thursday. CBS News' Kamal Afzali reports.

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U.S. President Donald Trump says Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members shot in Washington, has died and the other, Andrew Wolfe, is fighting for his life. The suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is in 'serious condition.'

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Video has emerged of two Palestinian men surrendering to the Israeli military with their hands up, before being shot dead in Jenin.

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The suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members led a team in the Afghanistan war and worked with U.S. and British forces, according to a former Afghan commando colleague. A DHS official says he was granted asylum earlier this year on humanitarian grounds.

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Firefighting and rescue missions continued into Thursday for a second day after a massive fire broke out in Hong Kong, gripping a complex of seven high-rise residential buildings. At least 55 people were killed and dozens more were injured in what is the worst fire to hit the territory in decades.

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A Peruvian court on Wednesday (November 26) sentenced former President Martin Vizcarra to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of taking bribes years before he took office, adding to a list of former leaders jailed for corruption.

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Two National Guard members were shot dead near the White House in Washington D.C. A suspect was taken to hospital with injuries related to a gunshot.

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A suspect is in custody and the scene is secured after a shooting mere blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., police said Wednesday. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said two National Guardsmen had been shot.

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Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup, after he exhausted all appeals.

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Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday (November 25) ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to begin a prison sentence of more than 27 years for plotting a coup in 2022, according to a court document.

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President Trump says only a few "points of disagreement" remain on a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The president says he will meet with the leaders of both countries only when the deal is in its final stages.

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President Donald Trump's administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. But the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se.

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The head of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said late on Monday (November 24) that his paramilitaries would immediately enter into a three-month humanitarian truce in its conflict with the country's armed forces.

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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S.- and Israeli-backed organization to distribute aid in Gaza, said on Monday (November 24) it was ending its operations after months of criticism over the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach GHF hubs.

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Chauncey Billups, who was serving as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers until his suspension, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges related to alleged rigged high-stakes poker games.

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The Kremlin on Monday (November 24) said that a European counter-proposal to a U.S. 28-point peace plan for Ukraine was not constructive and that it simply did not work for Moscow.

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A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on the grounds that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who secured their indictments, was unlawfully appointed to the role.

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At least 90 people have died in a week of torrential rain, flooding and landslides in south-central Vietnam, authorities said. Popular tourist areas have been heavily hit, with parts of Nha Trang submerged and deadly landslides cutting off roads near Da Lat.

Breakdown