> Yet another useful TopBand forecasting tool --- if you regularly miss hearing
> the "...18-minutes-after-the-top-of-the-hour" WWV propagation forecast, as I
> so
> often do here due to distractions
If you only want the WWV forecasts, they're at
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/wwv.txt
They load fast.
You can see the auroras graphically at
http://sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html and
http://sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapS.html
I was looking at geomagnetic-field observations from around the globe
yesterday, from this site:
http://www.intermagnet.org/apps/dataplot_e.php?plot_type=b_plot
I was trying to find a correlation with the non-spotlight conditions in the
southeast US the other night. The nearest magnetometer I could find is in San
Juan, PR. The low-latitude magnetometers indicated a disturbance, but a few
hours after conditions collapsed in this area. So it looks like we could
forecast geomagnetic disturbances based on observed 160 propagation, but the
magnetometers won't tell us much about localized propagation conditions until
after the fact. These disturbances were no doubt precipitated by solar
activity, but we were on the dark side, so the effect is delayed. I've ordered
some books on geomagnetism and solar-terrestrial phenomena so I can bone up,
but I think the only sure bet is to get on the air and see what's happening. We
can explain openings after they occur, but forecasting them is another story.
73,
Jim, KR1S
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