When I first started working on Aurora Admin it was a test to see how accurate I could calculate the speed of the solar windows from the sun to Earth. This started with the Minute by Minute table and it was only accessible to a few friends of mine.
I remember first testing it out in September of 2023 and there was perhaps the best geomagnetic storm I have ever witnessed. The sky was buzzing in all directions, one could definitely get motion sickness from that.
It was that moment which made me want to create a simple, yet effective forecast. One that can give me enough lead time to get to my desired location. As some of you have seen, the first algorithm was a bit rough, but it is getting refined.
The newer algorithm today will be a bit more refined and it will add a couple of data sources. This will be a precusor as I work to add around 500 new meauring points and data sources. This will allow me to continue to grow the algorithm and offer even better forecasting.
I know it's inherantly hard to forecast coming from the sun (149.23 million km away). I recognize some forecasts may be missed, but I want to go over above most other apps which rely on one or two metrics like the Kp (which is measuring the past) and the Ovation model).
Over and above all that, I wanted to add some quality of life features.
What's New?
Let's break down what's new in the new Aurora Admin!
- Better darkness forecasting – The old forecasting algorithm had a rough time calculating daylight. I changed how the data is calculated. This will help eliminate false positives.
- Smoothing – I adjusted the algorithm to have less jumps when the data changes. This will create a more reliable and realistic forecast.
- Probability display – You may notice the probabilty displayed on the website is faster. There is a heat map added. When there is a higher priority the box will display more red.
- The Minute-By-Minute data table – This displays correctly. It didn't display half the time. The values with a negative Bz are now highlighted as red.
- 45 Day Aurora forecast – I added a moon to tell you roughly what phases the moon will be.
- More notification features – The website now allows you to set what days of the week you want to receive the aurora notifications on. I know its hard sometimes when you want a good rest for the day ahead but you want to stay up late watching the greatest aurora show on weekends.
- More calling Numbers – I added 5 new numbers that the website calls and sends an SMS from. This will allow more users to get notifications as some countries require more regulatory compliances. I chose the calling and SMS features because you can add a contact as priority and it can override a Do Not Distrub mode on your mobile. Something apps cannot do.
- Respecting our data sources – I grouped the requests for data from our sources so we give less strain on them. With over 600,000 users each providing a request I thought it was a bit overboard.
- Tool Tips – I want to educate people about the auroras. I have, and will continue to add more tool tips to the website.
- Server upgrades – I updated the server to handle more load and give a faster experience. Some server upgrades will continue to roll out over the next few days.
I am one person and I am on a mission to bring awareness to this beautiful phenomenon to as many people as I can. Through this project I've learned there is countries where people are unaware that the aurora can dance above their heads.
I will continue to look at the community feedback and update the website.
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