Science for Alaska Summer Series: Dark Skies with a Chance of Aurora: Forecasting the Space Weather

Modern times come with modern problems, such as waking up to photos all over your social media of the most awe-inspiring aurora that you just happened to miss. Despite our best efforts, finding the best displays could be hit-or-miss because aurora is a very rapidly evolving physical phenomenon. Similar to conventional weather forecasting, predictions of aurora have a lot of uncertainties and errors due to the complex physical processes behind them. An added layer of complexity in the case of space weather is that the whole sun-to-Earth system is on the table. While aurora forecasting is not at the level of taking your umbrella when you leave home, it is a proliferating field of study and it is especially crucial for safeguarding spacecraft operations, telecommunications, and infrastructure. This talk will delve into what Space Weather is, what phenomena it is responsible for around the globe, and what scientists look out for to make the most accurate forecast.
 
Bio
Dogacan Su Öztürk, originally from Istanbul, Turkey, is an assistant professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Having moved to the US as a Fulbright Scholar, Öztürk obtained a PhD in Space Physics, a conjugate PhD in Scientific Computing, and a certificate degree in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership from the University of Michigan in 2018. Following two years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Öztürk joined the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 2020. Öztürk's primary research interests are the coupling of the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere; interhemispheric asymmetry; meso-scale variability of the near-Earth environment; the application of machine learning to heliophysics data; community science; and education. Öztürk leads the Space Weather Underground program at UAF which brings space weather research to high schools, as well as teaching a course for 3rd to 5th grade students which introduces them to the fundamental physics of the sun-Earth system with games and experiments.