Topband: Yet MORE 160 Propagation Indices

[Jim Kearman]

> 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