Global science community initiates program to mitigate space weather hazards

CHENGDU, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The international scientific community has launched a program that will utilize diverse observation methods and a global network to drive groundbreaking theoretical innovations and technological advancements in space weather research, aiming to enhance global capabilities in alleviating space weather hazards.

Five new institutions on Thursday signed cooperation agreements with the National Space Science Center (NSSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the lead institute of the International Meridian Circle Program (IMCP), at a forum held during the Second Belt and Road Conference on Science and Technology Exchange in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The signatory institutions include international organizations, universities and research institutes, namely the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, the Korea Polar Research Institute, the National Space Research and Development Agency in Nigeria, the King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Thailand and Muni University in Uganda. Within the framework of the IMCP Big Science Program, 36 cooperation agreements and collaborative intentions have been reached with a wide range of international organizations and research institutions, according to the NSSC.

Wang Chi, an academician of the CAS and head of the IMCP, explained that Earth's space environment is a critical domain for aerospace, communications and navigation, as well as space exploration and utilization.

Influenced by solar activities, the space environment can undergo abrupt, frequent and violent disturbances, and can even trigger non-traditional natural disasters. These disturbances are referred to as space weather. As a global phenomenon, space weather affects the entire geospace and all human activities, posing a shared challenge for mankind, Wang said.

"To tackle this global challenge, it is imperative to unite worldwide space weather monitoring and research efforts in conducting collaborative scientific research to understand the fundamental physical processes and dynamic mechanisms that govern space weather," Wang noted.

The program will operate for more than 11 years to cover a complete solar cycle, enabling comprehensive detection of geospace and thorough study of space weather. During this period, the IMCP will develop into a global space weather research community, Wang added.

By establishing an integrated observation system spanning from the sun to the Earth's upper atmosphere, the program will deliver unique solutions useful for understanding planetary habitability and promoting the peaceful use of outer space, said Wang.

In March 2025, the Chinese Meridian Project-Phase II, a large-scale national scientific infrastructure project led by the NSSC, officially passed national acceptance, marking the establishment of the world's most comprehensive ground-based regional monitoring network for space weather. This system provides continuous and reliable observational data for space environment detection and forecasting over China's territory.

Building upon the Chinese Meridian Project, Chinese scientists originally proposed the initiative to establish the most complete ground monitoring chain along the meridian circle at 120 degrees east longitude to 60 degrees west longitude, thereby expanding into a globally integrated, multi-disciplinary, multi-parameter detection network. This enables full-latitude, all-weather and continuous observations of the solar-terrestrial space environment.

By integrating space-based observations, this effort will deepen research into the characteristics and laws of change in geospace, uncover mechanisms driven by both solar eruptions and human activities, develop data-driven global space weather models and high-precision forecasting products, and provide scientific support for mitigating global space weather disasters, the peaceful use of space, and the advancement of a shared future for mankind in outer space, Wang said.

To achieve these scientific objectives, the IMCP will establish the IMCP International Organization to coordinate implementation of this big science program through core tasks including conducting innovative research, organizing synchronized monitoring, building an open data sharing platform and deepening international cooperation, he noted. ■