Solar Flares

[Meta4]

According to UAV Forecast, "In general it's better to play it safe during solar storms, even though most of the time you won't notice any issues." Also: "One major factor is your latitude: ionospheric disturbances are worse at high and equatorial latitudes, and less noticeable at mid latitudes. Another factor is the time of day: most disturbances occur in the evening between the hours of 8pm and midnight."

So just because some flights are fine does not mean it's safe... there's a risk of having an issue with GPS or radio, but it depends where you are, what time of day it is, and how things look minute to minute.

There's what UAV Forecast says ... and then there's facts.
UAV Forecast is of dubious worth and their suggestion that K-index above 4 is unsafe to fly is nothing but nonsense.
There's so much in the world that relies on GPS these days but the world doesn't stop when the K-index goes into the red.
The actual effect on your GPS accuracy on a high K-index (not just 5 or 6) would probably still be within the normal error range that your GPS exhibits has every day of the year and you wouldn't notice a thing.

 

[Phill2]

According to UAV Forecast, "In general it's better to play it safe during solar storms, even though most of the time you won't notice any issues." Also: "One major factor is your latitude: ionospheric disturbances are worse at high and equatorial latitudes, and less noticeable at mid latitudes. Another factor is the time of day: most disturbances occur in the evening between the hours of 8pm and midnight."

So just because some flights are fine does not mean it's safe... there's a risk of having an issue with GPS or radio, but it depends where you are, what time of day it is, and how things look minute to minute. Personally I avoid flying above Kp 6.

I'm in the tropics so it applies here.
If I remember correctly there was a member on here complaining about compass error during periods of high Kp

 

[Phill2]

UAV forecast?

You mean a web-mining App?

It's just regurgitated data.

They add no value or provide any science or proof of any flight issues.

You're entitled to your opinion just as I'm entitled to mine.
A Phantom is $2200 down here.
Would you be willing to risk that for the sake of a flight?

 

[N017RW]

EVERY flight is a risk. After 4 decades in r/c aviation one comes to understand that. You should be prepared to lose your quad every time you push that Left stick Up.

Even with much simpler systems and hardware crashes happen without warning.

What is the basis for your fear?
An App?
There's not one proven case of a Kp related loss yet you're convinced?
Why?

What is being said is that the risk you attribute to a space weather phenomena is a non-issue and you'll likely lose or damage your aircraft at your own hands.

So if risk of loss is your concern then don't fly, ever.

 

[Meta4]

You're entitled to your opinion just as I'm entitled to mine.
A Phantom is $2200 down here.
Would you be willing to risk that for the sake of a flight?

I've been flying every week for 3.5 years and have safely flown many times in high K-index conditions.
I've also monitored a few different forums and have read many, many posts where people warn of possible issues.
But I still haven't found even one case of anyone having problems due to high K-index conditions.

I'm aware of lots of hazards in drone flying including winds, trees, buildings etc, etc.
I don't rate K-index as a risk at all.
If space weather had any effect at all, it's going to be something-nothing and make your GPS a couple of feet out and still have no effect on your flying.
By the time the K-index is high enough to have an actual effect, drones will be the least of your concerns.

 

[Meta4]

I'm in the tropics so it applies here.
If I remember correctly there was a member on here complaining about compass error during periods of high Kp

I'd be interested to see that thread, but think the likelihood that solar activity caused any compass error is highly improbably.
Really, if solar activity had anything like the potential impact you fear, we'd have hundreds of drone pilots having trouble with it on problem days. But we don't.

 

[Phill2]

EVERY flight is a risk. After 4 decades in r/c aviation one comes to understand that. You should be prepared to lose your quad every time you push that Left stick Up.

Even with much simpler systems and hardware crashes happen without warning.

What is the basis for your fear?
An App?
There's not one proven case of a Kp related loss yet you're convinced?
Why?

What is being said is that the risk you attribute to a space weather phenomena is a non-issue and you'll likely lose or damage your aircraft at your own hands.

So if risk of loss is your concern then don't fly, ever.

Like I said we're each entitled to our opinions.
The difference is I don't try to push mine onto other people.
You fly your way and I'll fly mine.
I've been flying 3 yrs in all conditions with no crashes and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Meta4]

I've been flying 3 yrs in all conditions with no crashes and I'd like to keep it that way.

It sounds like you don't fly in "all conditions".
It doesn't matter when you do or don't fly but I think it's important to get the truth out so that others don't get scared of myths that have no effect or blindly trust apps that are of dubious value.

 

[Phill2]

It sounds like you don't fly in "all conditions".
It doesn't matter when you do or don't fly but I think it's important to get the truth out so that others don't get scared of myths that have no effect or blindly trust apps that are of dubious value.

Did you even read the article at the start of this thread?
Even a glancing blow to our planet’s magnetic field from a powerful CME can trigger a geomagnetic storm, which can disrupt satellites, GPS navigation, and the power grid but can also spawn especially brilliant auroras. SOHO scientists predict that a strong geomagnetic storm will hit on September 8.
I may be bing over cautious but that's just the way I am.
The data on UV Forecast is from Darksky.
Whether or not you choose to take note of it is my choice as is yours.

 

[Meta4]

Did you even read the article at the start of this thread?

Yes, I did.
But I'm a working scientist and have an enquiring mind.
I don't just accept whatever sensational story a journalist writes - I look further and find facts.

The data on UV Forecast is from Darksky

The source of the data isn't the problem.
The ridiculous assertion that K-index levels beyond 4 are unsuitable for drone flying is.

Whether or not you choose to take note of it is my choice as is yours.

What I choose is to understand what I do rather than accept myths and superstitions that are not supported by the available evidence.
Find just one case of drone flying problems that can be traced back to solar activity and I'll re-assess.
So far none have shown up.
Not any.

 

[Phill2]

I give up.
I thought I was being of help but all I've got is mocked for my efforts.
Now unwatching this thread.

 

[anotherlab]

Did you even read the article at the start of this thread?
Even a glancing blow to our planet’s magnetic field from a powerful CME can trigger a geomagnetic storm, which can disrupt satellites, GPS navigation, and the power grid but can also spawn especially brilliant auroras. SOHO scientists predict that a strong geomagnetic storm will hit on September 8.
I may be bing over cautious but that's just the way I am.
The data on UV Forecast is from Darksky.
Whether or not you choose to take note of it is my choice as is yours.

I took that article very seriously. I develop applications on custom Android hardware and GPS/GLONASS is large part of the application. The GPS/GLONASS chips used by many Android devices is very similar to the chips used by drones. I went out and tested with a collection of devices over an area that we use for GPS testing. There was no difference on any device with the GPS when the K index was at 8 than at any other value. We tested on time to lock and positional accuracy. The GPS/GLONASS technology currently available for consumer devices is really good.

While the weather data posted on UAV Forcast is handy, they are just collecting information that is publicly available from multiple sources. Their recommendations on flying based on K index do not provide for evidence to back up their conclusion.

 

[jhbphantom]

My p3 went crazy on Saturday with the Soler flair

If this has been posted tell me Found it interesting .Was in Mavic
How the Strongest Solar Flare in a Decade Is Affecting Earth[

 

[anotherlab]

My p3 went crazy on Saturday with the Soler flair

Do you have any specific details on that incident? What does "went crazy" mean in terms of how it behaved? How many satellites was it pulling in? What time of day were you flying and in what location?

The K-index values for last Saturday were low, nothing higher than a 3, but mostly 1.

 

[N017RW]

My p3 went crazy on Saturday with the Soler flair

Doubtful, you should look for other causes to be sure you don't have (a) real problem(s)

 

[KongWerks]

Thank you for this thread. No offense to anyone here but I have long thought the whole K index risk thing was way overstated. I see a lot of "examples" written about this... My Phantom was very unstable, I couldn't hold a hover, my video stopped working, I couldn't fly straight etc. yet I could never get errors to show up on any of my GPS enabled devices on days that the K index was high.

Much ado about nothing I said and have been mocked many times. If you feel strongly that it will affect your flight - I'm sure it will. Your choice to fly or not but I am glad to see others that think the same way as I do.

I'm sure at some point there is a real effect just not at the levels we see. In my mind if the difference between OK and disaster was 1 or 2 K "points" I would expect the ratings to be fractional numbers rather than whole numbers especially when we are talking "a 4 is OK but a 6 is dangerous"
To each their own but I appreciate that I am not the lone dissenter with this.
Thank you!

 

[Meta4]

My p3 went crazy on Saturday with the Soler flair

To get to the bottom of the mystery and find out what really happened, it would be good to look at your flight data.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and give some description of what happened etc.

 

[NewMexicoFlyer]

I had issues on Sunday but attributed it to that horrible Go App update, have since re-'fused' the controller and bird and logged in/out of the app. Interestingly enough we also had huge issues with our ore feed at work (open pit copper mine) that were only partially able to be explained. We use high precision GPS to target different copper grades and had a full 24 hrs where grades were 25% of what expected, almost like we were mining 25' from where we thought we were. Don't get me wrong, plenty of other possible explanations for this (hard to prove anything either way there are so many possibilities). Guessing Sunday (10th) didn't even have high Kp Values? I can tell you whatever did happen cost us close to $250k that day. I'll blame the sun and not human error [emoji12]

 

[anotherlab]

I had issues on Sunday but attributed it to that horrible Go App update, have since re-'fused' the controller and bird and logged in/out of the app. Interestingly enough we also had huge issues with our ore feed at work (open pit copper mine) that were only partially able to be explained. We use high precision GPS to target different copper grades and had a full 24 hrs where grades were 25% of what expected, almost like we were mining 25' from where we thought we were. Don't get me wrong, plenty of other possible explanations for this (hard to prove anything either way there are so many possibilities). Guessing Sunday (10th) didn't even have high Kp Values? I can tell you whatever did happen cost us close to $250k that day. I'll blame the sun and not human error [emoji12]

Which 24 hours did you have the GPS issues? The high K-index values can affect some GPS hardware, though the K-Index values last Friday were for just a couple of hours.

 

[NewMexicoFlyer]

I should mention at about Tucson AZ and 7,000' altitude. Can get a sunburn up here with the dry air in about an hr