Strange Space Weather over Africa
 

Not UK related but interesting nonetheless...

Strange Space Weather over Africa
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2....htm?list89139

Nov. 13, 2007: Something strange is happening in the atmosphere above
Africa and researchers have converged on Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to
discuss the phenomenon. The Africa Space Weather Workshop kicked off
Nov. 12th with nearly 100 scientists and students in attendance.

"The strange phenomenon that brings all these people together is the
ion plume, a newly discovered form of space weather," says University
of Colorado atmospheric scientist and Workshop co-organizer Tim
Fuller-Rowell.

Researchers liken the plumes to smoke billowing out of a factory
smokestack'except instead of ordinary ash and dust, ion plumes are
made of electrified gas floating so high above ground they come in
contact with space itself. "The plumes appear during geomagnetic
storms and they can interfere with satellite transmissions, airline
navigation and radio communications," says Fuller-Rowell. Indeed, it
is their effect on GPS signals that led to the discovery of plumes
over North America just a few years ago.

See:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2....htm?list89139


--
Am I the only Gareth Slee?
http://www.garethslee.com