In 2018, the Australian Federal Government formed the country’s first national space agency as part of its strategy to grow Australia’s stake in the fast-growing global space industry. These advisories relate to rather commonplace space weather effects, including radiation risk to air passengers, interruptions in high-frequency radio and satellite communications and Global Navigation Satellite System disruptions. For instance, since 2019, major space weather prediction centres around the world have issued various space weather advisories for the aviation industry as part of an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mandate ( Knipp & Hapgood, 2019 Kauristie et al., 2021). At the same time, “everyday space weather” (i.e., not just the great events) is becoming increasingly understood to have measurable impacts on modern society ( Guhathakurta, 2021, and references therein). ![]() Historical accounts of “great” space weather events over the last 500 years suggest an occurrence rate of about 1 every 40–60 years ( Knipp et al., 2021). In terms of economic impact, CMEs are projected to be the most significant (e.g., National Research Council, 2008). Among the various threats posed by space weather, the most serious are intense emissions of electromagnetic radiation, known as solar flares, the emissions of Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs) that travel close to the speed of light, and large masses of solar material erupting out into the solar system called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). Since the first reported space weather impact on modern technology in 1841, in which geomagnetically induced currents interfered with a telegraphic rail signalling system, leading to a minor train delay ( Cade III, 2013), our global society has become increasingly vulnerable to adverse space weather due to our heavy reliance on technological systems (e.g., National Research Council, 2008 Hapgood, 2011 Eastwood et al., 2017). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The details of the Space Weather Prediction Lab developed and taught at RMIT in 2020, in both face-to-face and online formats, are presented. The format of the lab that was developed can be easily scaled in difficulty to suit the students’ technical level, either by including more/less space weather datasets in the analysis or by analyzing more/less complicated space weather events. The aims of the Space Weather Prediction Lab were to: (1) provide a short and intense introduction to the near-Earth space environment and its impact on various human technologies (2) give students “hands-on” training in data analysis, interpretation and communication and (3) create an immersive space science experience for students that encourages learning, scientific transparency and teamwork. This new Space Weather Prediction Lab exercise is offered as part of an undergraduate course on “Space Exploration”, which has a diverse student in-take, including students with no background in physics a key detail in the design of the Lab. At RMIT University, the initiative was taken to develop a Space Weather Prediction Laboratory exercise for students as part of its new offering of a Bachelor’s Degree in Space Science in 2020. As the international space sector continues to boom, accessible space weather products, tools and education are increasingly important to ensure that space actors (both old and new) are equipped with the knowledge of how space weather influences their activities and applications. * Corresponding author: weather is a key component in the daily operation of many technological systems and applications, including large-scale power grids, high-frequency radio systems, and satellite systems. Now at: Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, PolandĪerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90245, USA Space Weather Services, Bureau of Meteorology, Sydney, New South Wales 2000, Australia ![]() Now at: Geoscience Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2609, Australia STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia Afful 1, Ronald Maj 1 ,2, Tam Dao 1, Michael Terkildsen 3, Vasily Lobzin 3, Zahra Bouya 3, Murray Parkinson 3, Samantha Le May 1, Suelynn Choy 1, Paweł Hordyniec 1 ,4, Barbara Hordyniec 1 ,4, Julie Currie 1, Tamitha Skov 5 and Ian D.
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