The installation of a $40,000 magnetometer — the main component of the Magnetic Data Acquisition System — is the initial step to extend the U.N. Committee on the Useful Purposes of Outer Space’s space weather initiative to Saipan.
The International Space Weather Initiative is part of the three-year plan adopted by the U.N.’s scientific and technical subcommittee and is now being implemented by Japan, Austria, Canada, Germany, Spain, Slovak Republic and Iraq.
It is a program of international cooperation that aims to develop the scientific insight necessary in understanding science as well as in reconstructing and forecasting near-Earth space weather.
The space initiative was on the agenda during the 47th session of the U.N. subcommittee held in Vienna, Austria from Feb. 8 to 19.
Japan, the leading participant of the initiative, sought Saipan leaders’ cooperation late last year.
Professor Kiyohumi Yumoto, director of Kyushu University’s Space Environment Research Center, and his team met with the officials of Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Services to discuss a possible collaboration in maintaining space monitoring equipment on island.
“We are now watching the impacts of solar flare by building the magnetometer systems in 70 countries,” Yumoto said. Magnetometer is an instrument used to study the dynamics of geo-space plasma changes during magnetic storms.
In October last year, Yumoto asked Rep. Froilan C. Tenorio to help them find a suitable area on Saipan for the magnetometer which will also help educate the islands’ young people in the field of space science.
Moreover, it will allow the CNMI to join developing nations in pursuing world-class space science studies.
The magnetometer is composed of two parts — the main unit and sensor which should be 45 meters apart from each other. They are connected by a cable. The sensor must be at least 100 meters away from the nearest road. The main unit needs 110 to 240 volts power and an internet connection.
Yumoto, a member of the U.N.’s space initiative steering committee, assured Tenorio that his group will cover all expenses associated with the installation of the equipment.
Yumoto attended last Friday’s 25th anniversary celebration of the Saipan-Seisa students exchange program at the Saipan World Resort.
In an interview, Yumoto told the local media that recent occurrences on the sun necessitate the expansion of the project.
He noted that the solar flare last Feb. 14, the largest since 2006, was directed toward the Earth and the waves of solar particles were expected to hit our planet’s magnetic shield.
The waves of plasma, Yumoto said, can disrupt the global communication systems and harm power grids. Worse, it threatens the lives of astronauts working in space stations. In Japan, he added, many telecommunication systems were disrupted.
Solar flares are caused by the surge of magnetic energy in the sun’s atmosphere.
