Space Weather: Effects on Ground and Satellites

This book examines the concept of space weather and how is space weather events have effects. Space weather events have gained a lot of importance especially in the last few decades, and with the advent of the space age, this has become more important than ever. Low Earth Orbit or LEO is defined as the space starting at 100 km of altitude and ends at 1000 Km of altitude. When a space weather event happens such as a solar flare or any solar magnetic event, it takes a certain time to reach LEO, but once it reaches LEO orbits, it can affect satellites, spacecraft and other objects in orbit. Space Weather events can affect the electronic circuitry, communication systems, navigation systems, computer systems, as well as control systems of satellites and spacecraft. Moreover, these can cause the perturbation of the satellites and this can even lead to shortening the life-term of satellites and decay their orbit to reduce their functionality. This book is an introductory book for engineers and students who wish to understand the effect of space weather on LEO objects and LEO spacecraft.