Radio blackout

From Glossary of Meteorology
(Redirected from Polar blackout)



radio blackout[edit | edit source]

A prolonged period of fading or faded radio communications, primarily in the HF range from ionospheric changes because of increased solar activity, in particular solar flares of the C-class level or higher on the sunlit side of Earth. Radio blackouts due to solar flares can last from minutes to hours. Solar proton events can also cause long-term radio blackouts over the polar regions for days; these are known as polar cap absorption events (PCAs). Radio blackouts due to solar flares of the M-class level and higher are classified using the NOAA R-Scale.”

Space Weather Prediction Center, 2018: Solar flares (Radio blackouts). Accessed 14 August 2018. Available at https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/solar-flares-radio-blackouts.


Term edited 14 August 2018.


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