Abstract

Space weather is the phenomenon of solar storms and other events in space that can have impacts on Earth. They are a major concern for power grids which can be severely damaged by geomagnetic field variations during such natural phenomena. To reduce such impact and the possible consequences following, the study aims to determine how the storm's impact spreads across the Earth during a strong event, the October 29th, 2003 Halloween Storm. The impact of the Halloween Storm is analyzed by using global maps of geomagnetic variations to find where it is received and how it propagated. Cross-correlation is done on specific latitudinal and longitudinal distributed chains. The maps show that impacts are received first in high-latitude regions and then propagate toward mid- and low-latitude regions. The regions of impact during the first storm are on the magnetic dayside while the second storm is on the magnetic night side. The cross-correlation study shows that localized patterns occur more in the high-latitude regions with more intensive impacts, such as Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and Canada. Global patterns occur more in the mid and equatorial regions with less intensive impacts. The mid-latitude countries such as France, UK, and the US can also be impacted during extreme events. The visualization package is developed and available to researchers and the industry. The global view of space weather impacts can help us to understand and mitigate the hazardous impacts on modern society.