This article was taken from the May 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Solar winds, made of super-hot space plasma and controlled by the Sun's magnetic fields, travel at thousands of kilometres an hour and can whip up in a few seconds. And this Antarctic radar station keeps track of them. Opened in 2013 near the Concordia base at Dome C, Antarctica, is the newest addition to the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) which comprises 32 radars operated by different countries.
It's also the highest (3,400 metres above sea level), the closest to Earth's geomagnetic north and in the "most extreme environment", according to Ermanno Amata, the astrophysicist who installed the radar. Amata spent 2013 making sure it worked properly: this year, he will be monitoring in earnest, measuring plasma velocity and watching out for solar flares that can knock out comms networks: "And, as a by-product, SuperDARN radars contribute to the evaluation of space-weather hazards," says Amata.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
