Solar images & space weather (Score 1)

This thread is down my alley, so to speak. The US official "Space Weather" (i.e. solar-terrestrial data, predictions, aurora, solar images) site is www.sec.noaa.gov - to see current conditions go to sss.sec.noaa.gov/SWN SOHO data/images are very much operational - a quick link is on the front page at SpaceWx.com It is an aging research satellite with a limited lifetime. The new operational SXI data/images (at X-ray / EUV wavelengths) developed at NOAA/Space Environment Center are delayed several minutes or more due to telemetry/data processing constraints - but that is easily quick enough to be considered 'real time'. SEC has been providing solar-terrestrial predictions for years - but the enormous complexity of solar-terrestrial physics and lack of remote sensors severely limit the accuracy (it would be like trying to predict the temperature in Miami from weather instruments in Colorado with 1955 technology) - but new advances are rapidly changing this (within the constraints of severe gov't budget cuts). "Space Weather" - e.g. solar variabilty and solar wind/geomagnetic effects have significant effects on satellite drag and radiation survivability, radio communications, electrical power grids, and many other areas.