Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Space science reviews 2017-11, Vol.212 (3-4), p.985-1039
Main Authors: Gombosi, T. I., Baker, D. N., Balogh, A., Erickson, P. J., Huba, J. D., Lanzerotti, L. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerospace environments
Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
Altitude
Anthropogenic factors
Artificial radiation belts
Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Explosions
High altitude
Human influences
Impact damage
Ionosphere
Nuclear explosions
Nuclear tests
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Planetology
Radiation
Radiation belts
Radiation damage
Space
Space Exploration and Astronautics
Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics
Space weather
The Scientific Foundation of Space Weather
Very Low Frequencies
Weather
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Summary:Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release experiments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.
ISSN:0038-6308
1572-9672
DOI:10.1007/s11214-017-0357-5