"Unprepared for the Next Solar Storm: New Research Reveals the Frequency and Impact"
New research reveals that the strength of solar storms hitting Earth can vary significantly over short distances, highlighting the need for a denser magnetometer network to better understand the complex structure of the magnetic field during solar storms. Currently, monitoring networks for solar storms have sensors spaced about 250 miles apart, but the study found that solar storm strength varies across much smaller ranges of around 62 miles. A more comprehensive network would provide local warnings of solar storm movements and better safeguard infrastructure vulnerable to magnetic disturbances.